Task Force Ala Alba
by Standardised Lambency
Summary: COD MW 1 and 2 AU cross. What if Ghost, Roach and Allen were reconstituted? See what happens when they're returned to life and join Negi and co.
1. Prologue

**Characters of Negima and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 belong to their respective owners. **

* * *

Captains John Price and John 'Soap' MacTavish supported each other as they limped over to the small airship which landed on the sandy ground nearby. From the floating island on which they stood, a distant battle of mammoth proportions could be seen. Hundreds of airborne battleships surrounded a floating tower, facing off against Cosmo Entelecheia in a battle that would determine the fate of this world.

The cockpit door on the airship opened and out stepped a short dark skinned young woman: Theodora, 3rd Princess of the Hellas Empire.

"I thought I told you this was a one way trip!" Price called out as she ran over and helped support Soap.

"Looks like it still is," replied Theodora, checking the stab wound through Soap's tactical vest. "They'll be looking for you, you know."

"Princess, we need to get Soap outta here," said Price as they entered the craft and laid Soap on a couch.

"Yeah, I know a place." Theodora rubbed her hands. "The nearest gateport, you'll be safe back on Earth."

"No I mean somewhere we can lie low. I'd imagine we'd be staying here for a while."

Theodora widened her eyes in surprise and asked, "Why? Shouldn't you be returning home? Back to the Old World?"

Price took off his boonie hat and sat down before saying sadly, "No, members of our Task Force are still out there, the Empire and Confederation are still hunting them down… if there are any left. No one gets left behind. I'm not leaving this world until each member is returned home, dead or alive."

Theodora looked at Soap, his fingers clenching with each slow painful rise and fall of his chest.

"I'm sorry about your men. If we'd found the DSM in time we wouldn't have…"

Price rubbed his large brown moustache. "No war is without deception, not even one with Ala Ruba involved. General Shepherd and Fate Averruncus had everyone fooled." He couldn't help but inject a hint of bitterness as he said this.

Theodora sat down next to Soap and ran a hand through his mohawk. "If that's the case we'll help clear the names of you and your men. Task Force 141 will be taken off the terror watch list for the Empire, Confederation and Ostia. Nagi and-."

Price cut her off with a wave of his hand. "No, no government will do that. Not after what we'd done and what they thought we'd done… Cause all you need to change the world is one good lie and a river of blood. Shepherd and Fate almost completed the greatest trick any liar's played on history. Their truth almost became the truth, and I stress almost."

The Hellain princess looked down. "Captain… all I can say is that Ala Ruba saw through their lies and it will not become the truth so long as the members of Ala Ruba live."

There was a brief moment of silence in as they sat, listening to the distant boom of the battleship cannons and the crackle of small arms fire.

Price nodded and said, "Well it's high time we set off."

Theodora stood up and gave the former SAS captain a pair of keys. "There's a safehouse you can use, coordinates are already programmed into the navcom."

"Thanks and don't try to follow us."

As Theodora went for the door she was stopped by Soap who held out his arm.

"Yes Soap?" she asked, remembering to address him by the callsign only he prohibited his subordinates from using.

"If you find any of them out there, help them. Let them know that we're still here and we won't abandon them," he said weakly.

Theodora smiled and said, "We will. Goodbye Soap."

She turned to Price who'd already gone and sat in the pilot's seat.

"For what it's worth… I'm sorry once again and a thousand thanks to both of you and your men for saving me back then…"

Price grunted in reply, "Think nothing of it. I doubt we will see each other again."

* * *

The Princess watched as the airship ascended and sped away south. As she watched it disappear into the clouds another ship, larger than the first landed behind her.

"Gross, look what happened to Shepherd's eye," said a loud voice.

Theodora turned to see Nagi, a young man with a shock of red hair wearing a cloak, nudging the corpse of Shepherd with his foot.

"Better get out of here before the old guy goes bad in this heat," he added with an expression of disgust before asking, "So where did they go? I've really got to compliment the guy who threw that knife."

"They're gone, as far as I know they're the last two alive," she answered.

"A pity," said Nagi. That Price dude was pretty cool. I'm betting if he were in a contract he'd get a new M1911."

Theodora raised an eyebrow as they walked over to the edge of the floating island. "He's dedicated to his way of fighting; he and most of the Task Force did all that without magical assistance."

Nagi whistled, "Yeah, they almost got someone to infiltrate Cosmo Entelecheia itself and look how that turned out. But then they took out an air force base by themselves, nabbed and tortured an arms dealer in broad daylight in Ostia, saved all the hostages on a gas mining platform, a broke into maximum security military prison, raided a Cosmo safehouse and then fought against Shepherd and his private Megalosembrian army. I reckon they must have had some significant magical help."

The Princess silenced him with a glare. "Don't forget they saved me five years ago, during that civil war in the Empire. It doesn't matter if they used magic or not. They're not of this world yet they chose to fight for it. Just like you."

"Ok, no offense to them… well you might want to know that we managed to find a few of them," said Nagi, for once feeling a little chastised.

"Good let's see them."

They walked into the medical bay of the craft. The walls were all sterile white and a filled with beeping electronic instruments."

Crown Princess Arika Anarchia Entheofusia of Vespertatian Royal family of Ostia sat beside one of the occupied beds which were occupied by three bodies.

"How are they?" asked Nagi.

Arika looked up and shook her head. "3rd degree burns and gunshot wounds to the two we recovered from the Cosmo safehouse. Barely conscious and according to Eishun we'll lose them. Jack brought in the other who was the undercover agent from the Hellain gateport massacre. He's been on life support ever in the Empire ever since. I think they were hoping to trial him as soon he wakes up. He's beyond help too."

Nagi sat down next to her. "I guess there's nothing we can do."

"There is."

Nagi, Arika and Theodora huddled around the Task Force commando who'd spoken.

"Hey there, are you alright?" asked Arika.

The man's face was badly burnt. Nagi thought he must have been wearing a mask since a layer of partially melted black substance covered almost his entire face.

"Can you tell me if Price and Soap got away?" the man seemed to gasp with each breath.

"Yes they did, I saw them and they are safe," said Theodora, "They told me to tell you guys that they're not going to leave you guys behind."

The man coughed and attempted to grin, except that his lips had been burned off. With great effort he turned his head to look at the bed to his right which was occupied by another man who was burned just as badly.

"Roach, they made it... Those crazy bastards made it." The effort was too taxing because he stopped and closed his eyes.

Roach couldn't reply. The respirator was all that was keeping him hanging on.

"_He'd hung onto so much and for so long_," thought Ghost before he slipped back into darkness.

Arika and Theodora had tears running down their cheeks while Nagi placed a hand on Ghost's shoulder before walking over to the body on the far side.

Alexi Borodin was the only name they had for him. Ala Ruba first heard his name as a Megalosembrian agent who was a perpetrator in the terrorist attack on a spaceport in the Hellain Empire. Hundreds of civilians and police were killed in the attack which bore the hallmarks of a well planned military operation. The massacre sparked the war between the Empire and the Confederation, the war which dragged in Arika and then Ala Ruba. A conspiracy was discovered in which the two superpowers would be distracted in their war from Cosmo Entelecheia, the organisation that threatened the entire Magical World.

Nagi sighed as he regarded the man lying before him. The neck wound had long since healed but his brain was no longer functioning.

"Such a waste," he said sadly, regretting having gone after the remaining Task Force members so eagerly. To think that he'd actually swallowed the propaganda about these men being terrorists.

It was then that an idea came to him.

"Girls, can you go find, Jack, Eishun, Gateau, Takamichi and the rest?"

While they left the room Ghost had retained consciousness and was trying to converse with Roach again.

"Hey Roach. When we get out of here we're going to find Price and Soap."

_

* * *

Find Price and Soap._

"_What the hell did that mean_?" wondered Simon Reilly, as soon as his eyes snapped open.

He raised a hand and rubbed them before looking out the window of the Japan Airlines 737. Down below he could see the metropolis which was that of Kyoto.

"EXCUSE ME!"

Simon pulled out the headphones which were blaring Led Zepplin at max volume before turning to the stewardess.

"Yes?"

"You're required to stack up your tray before we can land," she said, a little grumpily.

"Oh, sorry about not answering you, I'll remember to keep an ear out for a pretty voice like yours," he answered with a smile.

The attendant turned a little pink; the fact that he could speak her language helped a little. "Turning down the volume helps, you'll save you ears too."

"I'll remember that, arigato."

A boy around Simon's age of 15 sat between a textbook example of anorexia and a brat of seven. He had short blond hair and was lanky, awkwardly so. He gripped the seat in front nervously, as though he might fall off.

Somehow the guy seemed familiar, but Simon couldn't put a finger on it. He'd never met him before but there was something that went beyond the fact that they'd both boarded the same flight from Heathrow. Simon shrugged it off, not that he had many close friends anyway. But then he noticed the open envelope that the boy had pinned between his left hand and the side of the seat he was gripping. Simon recognised the seal of Mahora Academy. A similar envelope was pinned to his refrigerator back home in London.

* * *

Joseph Allen wasn't looking forward to the jet lag after flying across an entire ocean. He'd barely gotten any sleep up in the plane and the in-flight movies came from some arthouse collection run by the likes of his hemp smoking uncle.

Grabbing his duffle bag from the conveyor belt he made his way over to the metal detector booths. As he waited in line he watched as with a beep a lift door opened up.

_Five men marched out armed with assault weapons. Everyone stared in shock as for a few ridiculously long seconds no one did anything. And then the gunmen opened fire. _

"Excuse me sir." The police officer asked in halting English while Joseph shook his head, coming out of his trance.

"Sorry," he replied in Japanese to the officer's surprise.

* * *

Gary Sanderson proceeded quickly to the entrance where hundreds of commuters and tourists were milling about. He'd been told in the letter from Mahora that the person who'd pick him up would be waiting around here. Turning around he wondered if that pale, dark haired guy with the skull T-shirt was still following him. Gary had caught the guy staring at him on the plane and he was sure he had tracked him through customs, a few souvenir stores, a café and a manga bookshop.

All such thoughts were abandoned as soon as he saw his name in English on a sign appear above the heads of the human swarm. Threading his way through, Gary made sure to keep a hand over his right pocket where he kept his phone and wallet. Japan was regarded as a safe place, but there could be worse. For some reason he had a knack for foreign countries, as though he'd been there before.

After holding his breath for almost a minute he jumped back, finding himself facing a well endowed woman with kind eyes behind a pair of glasses.

"Oh hello there might you be one of the boys on the sign?" asked Shizuna Minamoto in English.

"Yes I'm Gary," he answered in her language. He almost offered his hand but remembered to bow instead.

"I'm Shizuna Minamoto, that would be Takamichi Takahata," she pointed to a bespectacled man dressed almost entirely in gray standing next to her.

"Why Gary-kun, how are you?" said Takamichi, offering his hand.

"Long time no-," he caught himself before saying, "My mistake, you just reminded me of someone I knew in the past."

Gary gave him a puzzled glance as they shook hands, "It's alright."

He almost added, "You seem familiar too."

Just then a brown haired guy, about Gary's age turned up with a duffel bad slung over his shoulder. As he drew closer Gary could see his green eyes tracking the ground he was just about to tread upon.

The boy almost ran into Takamichi until he ventured a guess and asked, "Joseph Allen?"

"That's me."

Takamichi and Shizuna introduced themselves. Gary looked at the sign which had two names crossed off: his and Joseph's.

"Well all that's left is Simon," said Takamichi, as he help up the sign again. "Why don't you and the boys go and put the luggage away?" he suggested to Shizuna.

"Off course, follow me." She beckoned the boys over to a black SUV with the Mahora seal over the doors.

Meanwhile Takamichi felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning his head he found himself staring into a pair of cold hard gray eyes.

"Whoa! Simon-san?"

* * *

Inside the SUV the three boys sat in the back with Takamichi driving and Shizuna in the front passenger seat.

"You boys heard of Mahora Academy before getting your letters?" asked Takamichi.

There was silence as the boys racked their memories.

"Not that I recall," said Joseph.

"I'll tell you all about it, it'll pass the time," said Shizuna.


	2. The FNGs

"Come in," called out Dean Konoemon Konoe the man in charge of Mahora Academy.

The door to his office opened and Negi Springfield, a red haired 10 year old mage-in-training and class teacher entered.

"You requested my presence Dean Konoe," said Negi, stepping up to the desk.

"Yes, I apologise for the tardiness of all this." The old gentleman gestured for Negi to sit down.

"Think nothing of it, the class was just about to wrap up, I don't think they mind an early mark," replied the boy. "So what appears to be the problem?" he asked, eyeing the paperwork stacked on the desk.

"Well as you can see I've been very busy this past forty eight hours," said the Dean. "There's been an unusual favour from your father to his friends that has just been invoked.

Negi started at this news. "Really? Did he make contact or something?"

The recent meeting Negi held with Albireo Imma had raised hopes of the survival of his father. The Dean answered, "This dates back before you were born."

"Oh…" Negi curled his lips, hiding his disappointment and leaning back. "So what is it?"

The Dean opened a safe inside his desk and pulled out an open letter.

"It says here that these individuals are to be provided with 'specialist' training on campus. At the same time the Academy is an appropriate location to nurture and develop their magical capabilities." He paraphrased the contents.

"Umm… ok," said Negi, a little confused. "So they're capable of magic, but then what is this 'specialist' training you mentioned?"

"Think Counter-Strike 1.6," said the Dean with a twinkle in his eye.

Negi was taken aback by this. The principal was generally regarded as a progressive man but who knew he was in touch with Generation Y to this extent.

"Wait… are you saying they're like commandos or special forces? Why here of all places?"

"Well for one." The principal opened a folder on his desk. "They're teenagers and won't you agree that sending them off to be trained by someone like Gunnery Sergeant Hartmann is a little harsh?"

The young mage gulped, remembering the film he and Kotaro Inugami watched alone in the middle of the night. He covered his mouth in shock when he realised something else…

"Yes, I know you and Kotaro-kun were just curious and I doubt the girls would have wanted to spoil your innocence by letting you see such a violently entertaining film." Negi's superior chuckled before continuing, "Their military education will be gradual and a trainer will be outsourced for them. At the same time you will assist in their magical education."

"Are you saying I'll be training them?"

"Not just that, they'll be involved in daily classes. Ideally you won't have to overexert yourself; it'll be a gradual process."

Negi thought for a while. It will be a major change. Chao Lingshen had recently left after the school festival and the battle to keep the existence of magic secret. Thirty three students shouldn't be too much of a burden. Besides, if their skills could be useful in the future.

"Alright I'll accept this assignment."

"Good, I knew I could rely on you," said the Dean as he handed over a file. "Take some time to read their profiles. They should be arriving in a few minutes."

"Wait, do we tell them about magic straight away?"

"Hmm, no. Not yet. We have yet to see anything manifest but your father left instructions that they must be trained nonetheless. Wait and see what happens."

* * *

Joseph, Simon and Gary could barely believe their ears after hearing Shizuna's explanation.

"Ok, so why were we chosen to come here? I don't remember filling out any overseas scholarship applications," said Joseph, staring into the back of the seat in front.

"I can't exactly say," answered Shizuna. "But you will find out once we speak to the Dean."

"Right…" said Simon. He turned to the boys on either side of him. "How did your parents react when they found out?"

Gary shrugged. "Proud I suppose, I was due to go to Eton. Seems prestigious enough."

"Mum and dad argued over it for a full day straight. I'd upped and left by then," said Joseph.

Now that their collective attention was on him Simon said, "Well the letter saved me from having to face a juvenile court."

"Really? What the heck did you do?" asked Gary.

"Misusing the school computers to set off a fire drill during a test. That was the last thing on the list they had for me."

Shizuna frowned while Takamichi made a note of this.

After a moment of silence he pointed out the window as the car turned onto road winding around a mountain.

"There's the school down there."

Joseph gave a low whistle, looking out his window while the other two leaned over to see. Down below the entire school campus was laid out almost like a model. The giant tree Shizuna had described earlier was visible, almost incongruously resembling a broccoli amongst the red and brown tiled roofs.

"Wow, look at that…" said Gary, who had planted his elbow in the small of Simon's back.

"Oi, get off me!" Simon shoved Gary back but ended up spilling the coke bottle Joseph was clutching between his thighs.

"What the-!" Gary tried to push back against Simon but accidentally poked Joseph in the eye.

"Hey! You're in for it now!"

Before long there was a three way fight between the boys. Shizuna's frown deepened so she plugged in her IPod while Takamichi put his foot on the throttle. The faster they got there the better.

A few minutes later they'd stopped in front of the main administrative building. There was no one outside but the bell was due to sound in a few minutes.

"Ok we're here," said Shizuna, opening the back door and dragging out Gary who simply slumped onto the asphalt, followed by the other two.

"That was quite lively, good thing it was only playfighting," commented Takamichi before saying to Shizuna. "But boys will be boys so try not to frown so much."

The three of them got up groggily and stretched.

"Geez, I hate having to stay cooped up like that for ages," said Joseph. "Had to go walk the whole plane every twenty minutes to stretch my legs."

"Tell me about it," said Simon.

"You boys satisfied now?" asked Takamichi, "We're running late."

As they proceeded to get their luggage, Shizuna said, "Someone else will handle those, just follow us."

The five of them set off at a brisk pace, entering the lobby and heading up the stairs to the Dean's office. Meanwhile class 3-A had left class early due to Negi's absence and had spotted the group entering the building.

"Say what's Takamichi and Shizuna-sensei doing with those guys over there?" Konoka Konoe, granddaughter of the Dean asked Kazumi Asakura.

"Well I didn't see their faces. Just visiting the Dean perhaps? If they turn up again I'll keep an eye out," answered the resident class journalist.

Whispers were quickly exchanged amongst the girls for a while as they milled about until the noon bell rung.

There was a knock at the door before Takamichi, Shizuna, Gary, Joseph and Simon entered the office.

"Ah there you are, we were getting worried for moment," said the Dean, getting up and to shake the newcomers' hands.

"Welcome to Mahora academy, I'm Dean Konoe. Please sit down."

As they did so the Dean went on, "I would like to thank all three of you for responding so promptly to the invitation. You must be wondering why you've been sent here?"

Simon felt like saying, "No shit sir." But he thought better of it. His skull T-shirt looked out of place as it is.

"Here at the school we're interested in nurturing the natural abilities of our students. Many of them are unique and gifted in some way or another. You'll see when you attend your first class."

"_Right... doesn't sound different from any other school that prides itself on talented young overachievers_," thought Joseph.

After a few minutes of the principal talking Gary's attention wandered over to Negi who was seated apart from them. He took in the younger boy's clothes and then the staff which was propped against his chair.

"Have you boys experienced any unusually vivid dreams or hallucinations lately?" the Dean asked suddenly.

"Excuse me?" asked Simon, leaning forward.

"Yes, I asked since your collective attention was beginning to waver," answered the Dean, "You will do well to pay close attention in class."

Joseph broke the awkward silence that followed. "Well yeah, sometimes stuff like that happens. Just randomly whenever I sleep or sometimes when I drift off. Almost like a videogame."

The other two nodded at this. Joseph decided not to include the disturbing content of a few of these dreams.

"I see. Ever displayed aptitude at anything like fieldcraft, paintball, martial arts, languages without even knowing?" the Dean persisted.

The three of them shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, yeah. I once field stripped a gun without even knowing during an open day at a Royal Marines barracks," said Gary.

The Dean and Takamichi looked at each other while Negi merely looked confused.

"Simulated war-games. I came first in my school JROTC for the last two years," said Joseph.

"Go on."

Simon looked up. "The SERE (Search, Evade, Resist and Escape) course run by some ex-SAS guy. Found it on the net and I was dared to try. Survived longer than anyone else."

"Impressive, would I be right in saying that there's more than just this?"

They nodded.

The Dean then decided to drop his bombshell. "Off course, basically what your career paths resemble are Special Forces operators."

The boys sat there stunned for a moment.

"That's what the guy said to me," Simon blurted out.

"You see." The Dean smiled. "Already it's clear. You're training will commence from this day at Mahora."

"Whoa! Wait a second!" Gary held up his hand. "How do you even know if we want to go commando? I mean we only just heard now that our career's one of jumping out of planes and blowing up planes. How the hell do you know this stuff?"

Takamichi smiled and said, "Well according to your files your career counsellors say that you guys have all the potential and skills that just don't apply to civilian life."

Shizuna picked up after him. "Basically we ran an evaluation on all of you and generally the three of you are smart, brave and unconventional. Among many other qualities that fit the dangerous lifestyle of a spec ops trooper."

Gary conceded with a nod while Joseph asked, "If that's the case why here?"

"Well, we are interesting in nurturing and-," the Dean gave his spiel.

"Ok!" Simon couldn't stand it any further. "So somehow we're going to be taught to play commando at what looks like Hogwarts. I hope whoever's training us is good."

"A specialist will be here within the week. In the meantime you will also be attending regular classes here," said Takamichi.

"Oh so who's our teacher?" asked Gary.

"Negi Springfield will be your teacher," said Shizuna, gesturing to Negi.

He stood up and offered his hand. "Hello, I'll be very pleased to make your acquaintance Gary, Simon and Joseph."

The three of them stared back at him until Simon burst out laughing.

"Haha, very funny. We're going to be taught by this little punk! Pardon me." He recovered as soon as he caught the Dean's eye.

"No shit," he whispered to the others. "This guy's serious."

Negi remained standing there with an outstretched hand until Gary and Joseph stood up and shook it.

"Nice to meet you," they both mumbled.

Simon snickered for a bit before grasping Negi's hand.

"This is going to be a fun year," he said. "You'll still be a punk in my eyes," he added in a whisper before smiling evilly.

"Uhh, yes I hope it will be fun Reilly-san," Negi managed to stammer.

* * *

Later, in the last period of the day 3-A were back in their classroom. The rest of the afternoon had passed without a sign of their young teacher and the girls had grown restless.

"Where's that brat disappeared to?" Asuna Kagurazaka wondered aloud, laying her head on her desk.

"Dunno, maybe it's got to do with those guys we saw earlier," said Albert Chamomile. The talking, chain smoking ermine sat on desk.

As he pulled out a cigarette and lit it Konoka commented, "Careful there Chamo, that lectern's heavily lacquered or you might set yourself alight."

"It hasn't really worried me. I light up whenever and wherever I want, I mean panties made from cotton will crumple up and burn like paper. Now with synthetic fibres, they'll melt and stick onto you. That's the only time when I won't light up. And to my knowledge no one here wears synthetics."

"Eww," Asuna and Konoka shuddered at the thought while the other girls (only those aware of magic) nearby rolled their eyes. The perversity of Chamo was something with which they had to put up for months.

"Maybe I should ask Sayo to go look for him," Kazumi said to Ku Fei.

"Don't worry he should turn up before the bell rings to dismiss us. I certainly won't fancy getting stuck here till six."

The twins, Fumika and Fuka Narutaki were plotting their revenge on Negi.

"This will teach him for leaving us hanging like that. He promised me the answer to that puzzle after lunch and now where's he gone?" said Fuka.

"Heh, I like this Bouncing Betty design we got," said Fumika, tying a tripwire in front of the door while her sister hid their trap under a Styrofoam cup.

The sound of footsteps down the corridor outside was everyone's cue to return to their seats. As Negi opened the door everyone waited with bated breath as he stepped over the tripwire. He since learnt to avoid traps set by the twins whenever he had entered the classroom at any unusual time.

Gary hadn't yet learnt this. As soon as he stepped on the wire the cup on the floor in front flew up.

* * *

"_Ambush!" shouted Ghost. _

_A disc shaped land mine concealed in the long grass suddenly popped up in front of him. Roach watched, mesmerised as it spun in mid air. As it reached its zenith he threw himself prone on the ground, as though a PT instructor had ordered him to begin push ups. There was an awful ear splitting crack as the mine exploded right above his head, the shockwave could have decapitated him if he'd been a fraction of a second late. _

"_Targets! Left side! Left side!" Roach heard Ghost bellowing orders to the other Task Force members. _

_He did as he was told and turned his head to look up at the hostiles pouring fire from the rocky hill on the left._

* * *

Gary looked up and to the left at the class, all of whom were staring open mouthed at him as well as Negi. It was then he realised he was lying on his stomach. The Styrofoam cup which hid the bouncing sneezing powder bomb lay on its side in front of him. He jumped to his feet and heard a loud sneeze from behind.

Joseph and Simon didn't see the bomb until Gary had hit the floor, by then it was too late and both of them had caught it in the face.

"Gary, Simon, Joseph! Are you alright?" Negi rushed back to the door, his voice full of concern. "I'm sorry about that. Some of the girls in my class occasionally pull pranks on me. I assure you that it was unintentional."

"I'm ok," Gary replied, dusting himself off and entered along with Simon and Joseph who were still sneezing.

By then the class had recovered and there was a strong buzz of conversation as they regarded the newcomers.

Joseph and Simon stopped rubbing their noses long enough to notice Fuka and Fumika standing in front of them, each with a tissue box and a goofy grin.

"Sorry about that!" They both bowed as the boys pulled out a few tissues.

"That's alright," said Joseph. "At least it was harmless."

Simon meanwhile returned Fuka's endearing eyes with a smile of his own. The girl blushed a little, before taking her sister's arm and returning to their seats.

The boys then regarded the class. The class stared back.

Puzzled Simon leaned over to Negi and muttered out the corner of his mouth, "I thought this place was co-ed."

"No this section of the campus is girls only. This is the class I teach and since I've been assigned as your teacher you'll have to join this class," answered Negi.

"Right…"

Negi cleared his throat stepped forward to address the girls, "Class 3-A, this is Joseph Allen, Gary Sanderson and Simon Reilly. They will be joining us while they complete their specialist training on campus."

By then the class had begun to form their own opinions. Haruna Saotome immediately detected the bad boy aura radiating from Simon and tried to catch his eye. The problem was that nearly half the class agreed with Haruna while Simon deliberately kept had a look a disinterest on his face.

On the other hand Joseph shuffled around a little, he was slightly shorter than the two Brits but the way in which he his eyes blinked as they looked down shyly and his neatly combed hair was all too endearing. To that effect it elicited "Awws" from the other half of the class.

Gary who stood between the two was just plain old Gary. Except for being a little taller than the rest there wasn't anything remarkable about him.

"_He'll be the one to get an interview off the easiest_," thought Kazumi. "_Simon seems like the type who thinks he's too cool to talk to girls. I don't think I'll get much out of that Joseph fellow; he doesn't seem comfortable here yet. _"

Negi continued, "Since tomorrow will be the start of the weekend I think it will be a prime opportunity for all of you to get familiarised with each other. They'll be living in the dormitories with us but they'll have their own room don't worry."

A few of the class seemed a little disappointed while the Simon and Joseph fist bumped in relief. Gary didn't mind either way.


	3. Familiarisation

At that moment the bell rang to conclude the class. Like sharks swarming a whale carcass the girls closed in before any of the newcomers could move a muscle.

"_Holy crap, we've got to contend with this?_" each of them wondered.

"Over here! I'm Makie. You're British just like Negi! But you sound different from him," Makie Sasaki asked Simon.

"Yes I am," he said proudly. "East End, London."

"Wow, I thought everyone from London sounded the same," she said before Yuna Akashi shoved her out of the way.

"Simon-san! I'm Yuna, if you happen to be good at sports or any physical activities come find me or any of the sporty crew like Ako Izumi, Akira Okochi and Maki Sasaki." She gestured over to them who stood at a discreet distance.

Joseph, the most skittish of the three took a step back as the cheerleading trio rounded on him.

"Look at him! Wouldn't it be great if he joined our outfit!" said Sakurako Shiina.

"Not so fast," said Madoka before beginning a proper introduction. "I'm Madoka Kugimiya, she's Sakurako Shiina and she's Misa Kugimiya."

"How about it Joseph?" implored Misa.

"Uhh…"

"Oh come on! It'll be fun." Sakurako joined in and pouted.

Gary looked left and right at the other two being swarmed and then found himself almost nose to nose with Kazumi.

"Hello there..." he said, after leaning back.

"Hi, my name's Kazumi Asakura, don't mind if I ask you a few things?" The budding journalist had a pen and notepad ready.

"Sure."

"So Gary, you joined this school rather unexpectedly. How does it feel?"

"Funny you say that. I was just about to change schools when I got the letter."

"Oh, any idea why you were invited?"

Gary licked his lips slowly, remembering the Dean's warning. "I really haven't a clue why, I'm afraid."

Kazumi didn't look convinced but Haruna butted in.

"Hello, I'm Haruna Saotome. I want you to come meet my crew." She dragged him over to a pair of girls standing a fair distance apart from the rest.

"Ok Gary, this is the Yue Ayase and Nodoka Miyazaki, we make up the Library Expeditionary Group," said Haruna.

Yue held Nodoka in place as she tried to back away.

"Well don't just stand there. Negi and Kotaro aren't the only guys in this world," she muttered into the purple girl's ear before speaking up, "Hello Gary, I'm Yue. Just don't call me Yuecchi like Haruna does and we'll get along."

Meanwhile the Narutaki twins were basically perched on Joseph's shoulders.

"Simon! I need some help over here!" He managed to call out as he was pinned to the ground.

Simon who was engaged in a lively conversation with Ku Fei, turned and muttered,"Bloody Yanks," before saying, "Yeah I'll be over in a sec."

Negi edged over to Asuna who hadn't moved from her desk.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

"Later. But I want to ask you myself first. Is there a special reason for them being here?"

"Uh, I'm afraid I really can't disclose that," the young teacher replied apologetically, "It came straight from the top you see…"

Asuna affixed him with a glare, she could always see right through Negi. She then turned to Setsuna Sakurazaki who was watching Konoka pet Joseph on the head. The poor lad was still struggling to get up.

"So what's your take on this Setsuna-san?"

The demon-human hybrid shrugged and replied, "It is obvious there's something wrong with this, the school isn't going to enrol boys into the girls campus unless there's a really good reason. Is there Negi-sensei?"

"I'm sorry but I really can't tell you," said Negi.

"Oh so there's something going on now is there?"

Negi jumped up at the sound of Evangeline K. McDowell's voice from behind.

"Oh, hey there master. It's nothing you need concern yourself about."

The sunlight immune vampiress in a ten year old's body raised an eyebrow. "So it is need to know huh?

Negi couldn't help but nod.

"Whatever, you can't hide it forever and neither will they," Eva said dismissively.

After Simon had managed to pull his eyes away from Chizuru Naba's unique figure and Joseph had sampled some of Satsubi Yotsuba's meat buns, the class rep Ayaka Yukihiro announced "Ok, I think we've held up Negi-sensei and the boys long enough."

"Alright, nice meeting you two," Gary said to Zazie Rainyday and Satomi Hakase.

"Goodbye Gary," said the young scientist while the mysterious acrobat girl just nodded.

"Hey guys, follow me!" Negi shouted while the cacophony heightened as the class bade goodbye to the boys.

As soon as he'd left the room the boys rushed out ahead of him, panting.

"Can't breathe…" gasped Joseph, clutching his chest.

"Hehe, I know how you feel," said Negi as he led down over to the dormitories.

* * *

"You know Joseph, you need to lighten up a bit around the girls," said Simon, as they stopped in front of a door.

"Is this is?" asked Gary as Negi entered.

"No I'm just here to get the keys first."

As they waited while Negi rummaged around inside his dorm the other two occupants, Konoka and Asuna appeared down the corridor.

"Ehh! Don't tell me you guys will be joining us! It's already a burden putting up with that brat Negi as it is!" exclaimed Asuna, stopping in front of them.

Gary raised his hands and said, "No, Negi's just getting some stuff. Didn't you hear we're getting our own room? Oh and who might you be?"

Asuna seemed too relived to say anything but Konoka said, "Asuna, why didn't you go say hi earlier? That wasn't very nice of you."

Chastised, Asuna said, "Oh alright. I'm Asuna Kagurakazi."

"Nice to meet you," said Gary. He tried to nudge Joseph forward but Simon butted in.

'Did you say you two live here?"

"Uhh, yeah that's right," Konoka replied, a little puzzled.

"That little punk said he lived here too," said Simon.

"What! You serious?"

Gary and Joseph were dumbstruck while Asuna flushed a little.

"No! That brat is too young and immature for that kind of stuff so nothing of the sort occurs!"

Konoka giggled. "What about those instances in which he crawls into your bed? I sometimes catch you two snug and cute up there."

Simon shook his head in amazement. "That lucky punk. To think-."

He stopped when Joseph backhanded him across the stomach.

"What was that for Joe?"

The American nodded towards the doorway where Negi was standing. The ten year old looked as though he'd been caught doing something forbidden.

"Look Negi, I'm sure nothing of the sort happens. We don't think any less of you and Asuna-san. Isn't that right guys?" Gary attempted to defuse the situation.

"Yeah. Absolutely." The other two nodded in agreement.

"Keep it that way," said Asuna in a low voice, holding up a fist.

* * *

The boys' room was within the main dorm room, just down the corridor from Negi's. Their luggage was waiting there on a trolley which the boys retrieved while their teacher unlocked the door.

"Well, this is where you'll be staying. You've got the weekend to get comfortable. I'll send you your timetables before class starts again."

Negi gave them a brief tour of the dorm which was exactly the same as all the others. Konoka and Asuna sat down on a sofa.

"Wow, it's so neat, if only our room is like this every time I come back," said Asuna, leaning back.

Just as the boys returned from studying the bathroom Konoka stood up and said, "Hey Joseph-kun, Simon-kun, Gary-kun I reckon you should try to find a club. Everyone in the class has joined one or you can form your own."

"Hmm…" Gary considered the offer by Haruna. "Why not?" he thought, "I was always enjoyed a good murder novel or two."

Simon asked, "I remember seeing a golf course on the way here. Is there some kind of club or association related to that?"

Negi answered, "I don't know, you can check though if you wish. I'm sure they'll be more than eager to accept."

He turned to Joseph then. "How about you?"

"Uhh, I really can't say. I ran an assault course in less than thirty seconds…"

The girls looked at him with raised eyebrows while Negi mouthed a warning to Joseph.

"What did I just say? I'm sorry. I mean I can do track and field quite well."

"Right…" Asuna said, not sounding convinced looked pointedly at Negi.

"I think it's time we left the boys to unpack," said Konoka, taking Negi by the hand. "See you later."

"See ya."

As soon as the door had shut Simon opened his suitcase and pulled out his laptop.

"Alright! Let's test this school network and update my blog."

"Geez, shouldn't you be unpacking properly, I mean in real life?" Joseph was transferring his clothes into his wardrobe while Gary claimed the top bunk.

"This is important. My Ghost persona hasn't been online for a while. I'll show you."

Curious the other two gathered around Simon's laptop. He'd opened his online profile and had successfully connected to the school intranet.

"Ok Joseph, Gary. Meet Ghost."

Onscreen a soldier in tactical gear appeared in a combat ready pose. His face was covered by a balaclava with a frightening skull pattern. A set of headphones went over his eyes and he wore dark red Oakely sunglasses.

"That looks badass. But what the heck are you supposed to do with him?" Gary wondered aloud. The figure looked very familiar for some reason.

"I just Photoshop him against a variety of backgrounds," answered Simon. "People send their requests to me and I make a picture available on my site. I also make posts whenever there's something significant that's occurred. Just what any old web idol does."

* * *

The new kid on the block was quickly detected by Chiu, or rather Chisame Hasegawa's own online profile.

"Who is Ghost?" she demanded furiously. "An interloper. Male by the looks of all this aggressive, machismo and combat imagery."

The class hacker leaned back in her chair. "_So long as he doesn't threaten my monopoly on online hits then I'll tolerate his presence. I'm sure it's one of those three boys today, these events are too close for them to be a coincidence_."

Deciding on a response she quickly put together a welcome message featuring Chiu.

"Let this be a shot across the bow," she said smugly, clicking send.

* * *

"Well hello, what's this?"

Simon opened the email and its attachment. As soon as he did so the screen was suddenly taken up by a beige and blue chequered background. What followed was some energetic J-Pop or something the boys couldn't make sense of. What looked like a character from a magical girl anime or manga then appeared.

"Greetings Ghost, my name is may have heard of me- the one of the most popular web idols in Japan. I would like to welcome you to this network in which I reign supreme," said the figure, trying to sound and look as cute as possible.

"Huh? What the hell?"

"It's nice of you to present yourself here but the Mahora Academy network is my turf. By all means make yourself comfortable, as long as your interests and mine don't clash," Chiu went on in her sweetest voice, "And one more thing. I enjoy being the most popular idol around here, I'm happy that way so don't think you can haunt me or this network… Ghost."

She ended almost mockingly before saying, "Thank you for watching but before Chiu signs off, take look at my portfolio. It's a preview of my site which I strongly encourage you to come and visit."

Chui winked and held up two fingers in the v-salute before a montage of images with the web idol in a variety of cute or sexy poses, costumes and cosplay appeared. A web address was included at the end as well.

The boys sat and stared before Joseph said, "It's a warning Simon. How do you want to proceed?"

"I think I felt my testicles shrink back into my body," commented Gary.

The other two stared at him before Simon, doing his best to ignore that said slowly, "It's a challenge. I'm not backing down and neither is Ghost."

He stood up and shut down the laptop. "That'll have to wait another day."

There was a knock at the door which Joseph answered. After a few minutes of hushed discussion he returned bearing several large cardboard boxes.

"Hey guys, we just got some clothes and stuff. Some of it comes from the American bases stationed here in Japan and the Self Defence Forces."

Outside their door the cheerleading trio, Misa, Madoka and Sakurako stopped when they heard Joseph ask, "So guys… boxers or briefs?"

"Say again. I can't hear you," Simon called back.

"I asked do you want to wear boxers or briefs. We just got a shipment courtesy of the US Army."

"Oh my gosh!" exclaimed Sakurako. "Am I imagining things or what?"

"Calm down, they just got new underwear. Nothing to get too excited about," said Madoka.

Inside Simon clamped his hand over Joseph's mouth.

"Quiet," he whispered harshly. With his free hand he pointed to the door and held up three fingers.

"Three foot mobiles outside," he whispered, "I think they can hear us."

The other two nodded, a little puzzled at the sudden change in terminology.

"Now that is what's so exciting. I wonder what Simon wears? I'm betting Gary does boxers," said Misa, leaning against the door and trying to listen.

As she did so the door opened inwards and she toppled over only to be caught by Gary.

"Uhh hey there Misa," said a very surprised Gary, getting her back on her feet.

"I'm sorry, we were just passing by when we-," Misa stammered, going pink.

Gary cut in, "Your guess was right." He smiled, causing further blushing before asking, "So how can we help you?"

Sakurako spoke up, "We were wondering if you guys might like to join us for karaoke later this evening? Our dorm is two doors down to your left."

From the back Simon called out, "Hell no! I can't sing if my life depended on it."

Joseph who was still in a chokehold managed to say, "Sorry, I've got a lot of things to do tonight."

"Alright, I'm in girls," said Gary, "What time?"

"I knew it!" Sakurako jumped up and down in celebration.

In the back Simon went into the bathroom for a shower while Joseph settled down on the sofa to watch some TV. As he flicked through some channels he heard the voices of Gary and the excited cheerleaders diminishing as they took their conversation outside in the corridor. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a pair of hands land on his shoulders.

"Ahh!" He looked up to see Kaede Nagase looking down at him.

"Kaede Nagase, pleasure to meet you de gozaru."

Joseph sighed in relief. "Geez, how did you get in?" He looked around the room.

The tall ninja girl chuckled. "Gary was preoccupied in conversation. So I just slipped in. Hope I didn't scare you."

"It was startling sure. You want to sit down?"

* * *

Takamichi and the Dean pored over several files in his office.

"So many qualified professionals," said Takamichi, wiping his brow.

"We need someone who's capable of easing the boys into their line of work. Perhaps Negi can benefit from this as well," said the Dean.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

Mana Tatsumiya, the young mercenary entered and sat down in the offered seat.

"What is it?" she asked, glancing briefly down at the documents strewn all over the desk. She recognised some of the names on the files, a few friends and enemies too.

"Here's the situation." Takamichi went over and shut the door before saying, "We're in the process of hiring a consultant, someone who has experience in the area of 'wetwork'. You know what I'm saying?"

She blinked and said, "So you want my recommendation?"

The two men nodded eagerly. Mana smiled and thrust a folder from the table into Takamichi's hands.

"This one trained me a few years ago."

Takamichi and the Dean gave the profile a quick glance before they looked up, impressed.

"I'll have to make a few calls for this one," said the Dean.


	4. Unusual Start

"So wait, why are you here?" asked Joseph.

"Oh, I've come on behalf of the Narutaki twins. They wanted to apologise for nearly dislocating your shoulders earlier. De gozaru," answered Kaede.

A little confused, Joseph asked, "Couldn't they have come personally. I certainly didn't hold that against them."

Kaede chuckled and said, "Right now they're out walking. Speaking of which they wanted to extend an invitation to the Walking Club to you."

"Huh, what's this?" Joseph was a little cautious, considering the nature of the prank the twins tried to play on Negi who's supposed to be their teacher.

"You'll have to come and see for yourself," said Kaede with a mysterious smile.

As she headed for the door sudden thump drew their attention to the stack of cardboard boxes Joseph brought in earlier.

"Did that sound like anything you've heard before?" asked Joseph, getting up and walking over to a box.

"Hmm, sounds like it came from this one." Kaede pointed to another.

The box she'd indicated shuddered again.

Joseph was impressed. "Let's see what it is that's causing the racket."

Flipping away the open flaps, Joseph plunged his hand into the box and found to his embarrassment that he was almost up to his shoulder in men's underwear.

"Uhh, you know we don't need to search right away," he said, quickly withdrawing his arm and shutting close the box.

"Nonsense, let's get rid of this pest whatever it may be, de gorazu."

Kaede opened the box again and started fishing around, ignoring Joseph's spluttered protestations.

"I can get Simon or Gary to do this instead, you know."

The box moved again and this seemed to spur her on further. After a minute, Kaede seemed to give up but then drew a couple of small kunai from her pocket.

"Just what are you going to do with those?"

She looked at him and said, "This is how I normally fish."

With barely a flick of the wrist one of the kunai dived into the billowing sea of boxers and returned to her hand within a second. The probing was enough to elicit another rumble from its occupant.

"Ok, Joseph-san, can you go fetch some sticky paper? De gorazu."

Shaking his head, the boy complied. Meanwhile Simon was still taking his time in the shower.

* * *

"Good evening," said Evangeline in her usual dismissive tone, beckoning her guests to sit opposite her on a sofa in her lodge. "So how can I help you?"

"We need to use another one of your resorts, if that's possible," requested Takamichi.

"Oh really, whatever for?" asked the vampire, examining her fingernails. "I thought they were sufficient for your purposes." She directed this towards Negi.

"Specifically we need to redesign one of them," said the young mage. He almost regretted this immediately.

"Redesigning one of my resorts?" The vampire narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Why? I planned your training regime perfectly. Changing the architecture will mean changing the regime. Have you decided to change your training?"

Negi gulped and flicked his eyes briefly over to Takamichi before looking back at Evangeline. The older teacher nodded so Negi cleared his throat.

"Ok… It's not actually for me," he managed to stammer.

"The three stooges, am I right?"

He nodded in confirmation.

"Why should they be any different?" Evangeline lost patience when she saw Negi turn to Takamichi again. "And what's with the reticence all of a sudden? Tell me why my help is needed and I'll take your reasons into consideration."

"Umm, it's all in the interests of national security," ventured Negi.

Evangeline snorted. "That's original. Seriously, no one has ever given me such an excuse before."

"Ok. Simon, Gary and Joseph's training will be different. What they need is military special ops training. We've already got someone to train them. However there's also the strong possibility that they could develop magical abilities in which case they'll require the optimal environment to hone their skills," said Takamichi.

There was a pause while the vampire leaned back and rubbed her chin in contemplation.

"Alright, I'll let you use it. Consider this a favour." She smiled and held up a finger. "I actually like this idea. So much so that Negi should participate himself."

The boy's face went gray but Takamichi said, "Deal."

"Good. Have this trainer you've hired, the three stooges, the boya and his friends meet here next week, Saturday."

"Thank you Evangeline-san," said Takamichi as he swept out the door with Negi in tow before the boy could protest.

"It's never too late for you and your friends to pick up some new skills," said Takamichi as they walked back to Negi's dorm.

"Does that mean that I will be going to boot camp?" asked Negi, his eyes fearful as he remembered the film "Full Metal Jacket".

Takamichi chucked. "No, it's not like that. Besides, the way you've handled Evangeline's training will guarantee you'll pass the physical aspects."

* * *

Gary went down the corridor, heading for the drink vending machine after pulling himself free of the cheerleader trio. As he approached he saw Yue with her back to him taking a drink. She didn't notice his presence until she heard the clunk of a can leaving the machine.

"Oh! You scared me just then." After jumping and spilling drink all over her front.

"Sorry, you're not the first one I've done that to," apologised Gary, as he cracked open his can.

Just then Haruna came bounding out the open door opposite the two of them.

"Hey Gary-kun! Have you considered the invitation?"

"Uhh, yes I have. What is this Library Expeditionary Group you're talking about?" he asked.

Yue spoke up, "What we do is explore and catalogue the contents of Mahora Library. The entire complex is situated on an island but its entire layout is unknown. Currently the whole campus only uses at most an estimated 15% of the library facility. Considering the size of the school that is a lot."

"Because there are at most three of us and Konoka-san involved we're desperately short on 'man-power' if you know what I mean," said Haruna, with a wink.

Gary raised an eyebrow at this and considered for a bit before asking, "Found any books particularly dangerous? Stuff like forbidden knowledge or anything like that?"

The two girls looked at each other before Yue answered, "There are all manner of books and documents stored in the archives. I wouldn't be surprised if you found something dangerous or controversial down there." She almost mentioned the magical knowledge tome Negi and the Baka Rangers had sought months earlier.

Gary already had an objective in mind by the time the blue haired girl had finished. "I'm in."

"Great!" Haruna cheered and quickly whipped out a document from nowhere. "Sign along the dotted line and you're officially part of the group."

As Gary filled out the details Yue said, "Where we're going you'll need warm clothing so come prepared."

* * *

Simon had just finished dressing as soon as he heard the awful yell on the other side of the door. Tempted to kick it down he quickly opened it to find himself facing an ermine wrapped up in transparent paper held between Gary and Kaede.

"Get this stuff off me!" cried Chamo, struggling futilely against paper.

Simon looked over his shoulder into the bathroom which was filled with fragrant steam. "Is there something in the shampoo that's making me hear things?

"Let him go. Chamo's harmless," said Kaede. She leaned down to look at the ermine. "What were you doing in there anyway? Diving around in guy's underwear is a new low for you, de gozaru."

"Wait… it can speak?" Joseph nearly dropped the ermine.

"Just get me out now!" shouted Chamo.

Joseph and Kaede looked at each other and nodded. On the count of three they tugged at opposite ends of the paper.

"Yeeooch!" Chamo protested.

"Stop, stop! I think we're pulling out his fur," said Kaede.

They moved him over to the bench and plonked him down. Joseph placed his chin in his hands and looked down at Chamo who was hyperventilating.

"So, you're a talking… rodent of some sort. Care to introduce yourself and tell me what you were doing in that box?"

"Albert Chamomile," Chamo panted, "Ermine familiar of Negi."

"Familiar?" Simon frowned. "So you're his pet? How the hell can you talk?"

"DOES THAT REALLY MATTER? GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"I think you'd better answer Joseph's second question as well," said Kaede with an amused smile.

"Ok… I heard there was a shipment of underwear coming in and since this is a girls school I naturally went straight for the prize. You can't imagine my surprise when I dove in here to find boxers. Now can you kindly get me out of here?"

"Hold on," said Simon. He went over to the kitchen drawers and pulled out a pair of scissors. Joseph picked up a glass of water and tipped it over his head while Kaede giggled at the spectacle.

"I guess that's karma for you, de gozaru."

* * *

Negi was sweating over the details of accommodating the new students into the curriculum. As he did this Konoka peeked over his shoulder.

"Boo!"

"Eek!" He fell backwards in his chair, flinger papers and a couple of books all over the place.

"Hehe, sorry Negi-kun." Konoka bent down and pushed him up by his chair. "Just felt a little bored, waiting for Set-chan to turn up so we can go karaoke with the cheerleaders. What are you doing, working on Friday?"

Negi rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "That's alright Konoka-san. I'm just organising the boys' timetable before Monday. Don't worry about those," he added when Konoka proceeded to pick up some of the scattered documents.

"Ehh? What's this? _Boot Camp for Dummies_." She read the title of one of the books.

"It's nothing!" Negi swiped it back from her. He managed to borrow it and a few others like it from the library without Yue, Nodoka or Haruna knowing.

Konoka shrugged but then Asuna poked her head around the corner.

"Negi-bozu why are you reading this?" She was holding up another library book, _The Art of War_ by Sun Tzu. "You're not going to run off and join the French Foreign Legion now are you?"

The other girl's eyes widened and stared at her teacher. "Negi-kun, you want to be a soldier?"

"What! No! It's not like that!" The boy lapsed into his traditional bout of stammering as he vainly tried to explain the misunderstanding.

"Ohh, Negi wants to go off and become a soldier!" Konoka's eyes teared up as she reached out and hugged the boy to the side of her cheek. "Is that what you really want to do once we've graduated and left?"

"No! It's not like tha-!"

Asuna suddenly picked him up and gave him a good shaking. "What's this nonsense all of a sudden? Negi-bozo your life is tough enough as it is. What is it you're not telling us?"

"Ok, alright! Please put me down!"

She complied and dumped him on the couch where she and Konoka awaited his answer expectantly.

"So…" Asuna waved her hand impatiently.

"It's for the newcomers. They're not just here to learn magic. My father wanted to them to be trained as soldiers and mages."

"What?" The two girls' mouths hung open.

"I wish there was more. All I know is that my father left a letter behind with this request. The Dean doesn't know any more than I do," Negi answered in a resigned tone.

"Hey wait! Where are they going to train then?" Asuna wondered aloud, before it came to her. "Does that mean they'll be training alongside us with Evangeline?"

Negi nodded and said, "I intended to but-"

"I thought we were supposed to be working together. We agreed to help each other out but you need to tell us these things Negi-bozo!"

At that moment Konoka turned around and happily exclaimed, "Oh! Set-chan did you hear all that?"

Konoka's bodyguard was waiting unnoticed behind them.

"Yes and I agree that Negi-sensei should have told us earlier."

"What do you expect me to do? I originally wanted to tell all of you next Saturday when we go see Evangeline."

"Interesting…" Setsuna sat down. "But there isn't a dedicated military instructor at Mahora . Mana's the only one of us who comes close to being a soldier."

"Yes, it happens that the Dean is hiring someone outside-."

"Ohh, who is it?" asked Konoka, leaning forward. Asuna and Konoka glared at Negi.

"I'm sorry but I don't know any more than you do."

* * *

"Ok, I guess the only thing we can do is to wait for you to moult," said Joseph, trying to Chamo down who was still stuck on the paper.

"No! I refuse to be stuck like this for six months. Get Aniki now! He'll know what to do!" cried the ermine.

"Whoa! How the hell can this thing talk?" Gary had just returned to the dorm.

Chamo sighed and replied, "Magic, that's all you need to know."

"Magic? The heck are you on about?" asked Simon, who was trying to cut off the paper that wasn't stuck to the wriggling ermine's fur. "Hold still, dammit!"

Quickly Kaede said, "Never mind that. Just go get Negi-sensei now, de gozaru."

Simon made a run for the door, as he opened it Chamo gave another ear-splitting shriek.

"No! Don't touch the fur!"

"Alright, put the shaver away Gary."

Looking both ways down the hall, Simon could see the girls sticking their heads out the doors of their rooms.

"What was that?" Ako called out.

"Sounded like it came from the boys' room," said Akira. "Where's Simon going?"

Next door Ayaka went pale and asked Chizuru, "Did that sound like Negi-sensei to you?"

Ignoring the curious glances, Simon sprinted over to Negi's shared dorm and rapped on the door. On the other side there was some muffled shouting, a few thumps and a vaguely male voice crying out before Setsuna answered.

"Simon-san, what brings you here?" she said cautiously, her sword within reach behind the door.

"Umm, I thought this was Negi Springfield's room," answered Simon.

"This is Negi's room indeed. I'm Setsuna Sakurazaki." She bowed briefly before continuing, "I'm only visiting but I'll get Konoka ojou-sama for you. Negi-sensei is busy at the moment."

Setsuna retreated and almost immediately Konoka was at the door.

"Simon-kun! Do you want to come in and wait until Negi's ready?" she said cheerily.

"No it's alright." Simon looked past her and could see Asuna's orange hair flailing about around the corner while she shouted angrily at someone. Probably Negi, he thought.

Konoka noticed his gaze and chuckled. "This is normal, Negi's so cute sometimes but it always gets Asuna worked up."

"I can't imagine," Simon replied slowly. "Can you please tell him it's an emergency? His pet, some kind of talking rat is in trouble."

The girl's eyes widened. "Chamo's hurt?"

"Not exactly, but we're having difficulty getting him out of a sticky situation. No pun intended. It called out for Negi."

"Follow me." She hurried back into the dorm where Asuna had Negi in a chokehold.

Setsuna sat nearby, waiting for them to break up.

"Negi! Chamo's in trouble! Asuna, let him go!" called out Konoka.

"What!" Negi was dropped painfully on his backside on the edge of the table.

"Ahhh! Asuna, that hurt alot." He rubbed the tears out of his eyes.

"Hello again, Negi," greeted Simon before looking around awkwardly and muttering, "Cry-baby," under his breath.

"We need to go now," said Konoka who had grabbed Setsuna by the hand and was dragging her along. "Come on!"

"What happened?" Negi was right in Simon's face as soon as he'd recovered.

"Your pet's entangled in some sticky paper and we can't get him out without cutting off his fur," answered Simon. "And how the hell can this Chamo thing talk? It mentioned magic or something like that."

"Uhh…"

Negi glanced sideways at Asuna who said, "He's an ermine and yes he can talk. Don't ask why, he just can."

* * *

"Try alcohol perhaps," suggested Joseph, after their latest attempt failed.

"Haven't got any, the school doesn't let us keep stuff like that in the dorms," answered Kaede. "The Carpentry Club or the Art Club should have solvents but they're locked away at this time."

Gary shook his head, "Too poisonous. We can't smear him in turpentine or something like that."

Chamo sighed and hung his head. "I guess it's all up to Aniki now."

The door burst open and in tumbled Konoka, Setsuna, Negi, Asuna and Simon.

"Where is he?" Negi started pulling out his staff but quickly hid it behind Asuna when the three boys gave him a strange look.

"What's that?" asked Gary curiously but Asuna cut in.

"It's a toy the brat keeps with him at all times. A gift from his dad."

Simon turned his attention to Setsuna's wrapped up sword which had its handle protruding after the brief sprint down the hall.

"Looks like you're packing heat. What's that for?"

She answered by gripping the bag and drawing out the blade, just enough to show them. Joseph gulped while Gary curled his lips apprehensively at the sight.

"Ok… why the sword?" Simon didn't seem fazed.

"I'm a kendo practitioner and I'm also Konoka ojou-sama's protector," Setsuna replied, reconcealing the sword. She decided not to mention her specialisation in the Shinmei-ryu style.

Chamo's distressed shouting served to diffuse the tension. "Hey! What about me! Aniki! Save me!"

"Ok." Negi crouched down at the table where the ermine lay, still wrapped from snout to the base of the tail. "Have you tried all other alternatives?" he asked.

"Yeah. He refuses to allow us to come near him with scissors and he doesn't want us to pull, de gozaru," answered Kaede.

"We considered chemical removal but it'll only hurt him," said Joseph.

"Alright. Hang in there Chamo. I'll try this."

Negi pulled out his training wand from behind his back but Asuna snatched it away immediately.

"Hey give that back!" The young mage hopped up and down as Asuna held it up and stuck it in her hair out of reach.

"You can't use that Negi-bozo! They're not su-."

"Supposed to what?" Gary knew there was something suss when he saw Negi produce the star tipped stick before the red head confiscated it. Negi and Asuna merely looked mortified.

Konoka at that moment glanced at the clock and said, "Hey it's just about dinner time now. How about I help cook for you here this evening? It seems like this problem with Chamo will take us a while."

Simon was surprised but replied, "Uhh yeah sure, if it's absolutely alright with you."

Setsuna looked ready to object but relented when Konoka smiled enthusiastically and went over to the fridge.

"Asuna ane-san! I don't care if they kno-." That earned Chamo a strip of sticky tape across his mouth from Asuna.

"I should have done that ages ago," she said smugly.

The boys shrugged at this and leaned back in resignation. Clearly there was something their junior teacher could do but that over aggressive girl was being a hindrance and there's clearly something the three of them were hiding.

Setsuna regarded the struggling ermine for a moment before drawing her sword in an instant. Everyone jumped up except for Konoka who was too busy to notice.

"Setsuna-san what are you doing?" asked a wide eyed Negi.

Snatching up Chamo whose eyes was about the size of gumballs she tossed up the terrified ermine and raised her sword like a tennis player serving.

"Surgical flail," she called out as she swung the sword overhead.

Chamo who was spinning very fast through the air was brushed with the edge of the blade on the very tip. The swordswoman caught him before the ermine before he hit the tabletop.

There was a few seconds of utter silence, broken only by Konoka humming away as she prepared dinner, apparently unaware of what just happened. Setsuna promptly handed over the ermine to Kaede who quickly unravelled the paper which had a single slice which wound all the way around.

"Setsuna-san… words cannot describe… just how did you do that?" stammered Negi.

Setsuna looked around sheepishly. "I made that up on the spot actually; it was just a crazy idea I had."

"Such precision, how admirable, de gozaru," complimented Kaede after she'd checked if Chamo was unharmed.

"What the hell was that? I could have been-."

The ermine's complaints were drowned out by the applause from everyone in the room.

"Too bad, I was hoping to rip off your fur up one side and down the other," Asuna whispered to Chamo who blanched.


	5. Team Player

_Good. That's one less loose end._

"NO!" Simon sat up in bed; his hand reached toward his waist unconsciously but gripped nothing except for his sweat soaked pyjamas. There was a dull pain in his chest which quickly subsided as he rubbed his eyes.

"Goddam…" He muttered as he checked his watch. 11.00pm.

"Bad dream?"

Looking down, Simon saw Joseph sitting on the lower bunk with a laptop which cast a blue-white light over his face.

"Yeah, you could say that."

The other boy bit his lips and said, "You only started snoring fifteen minutes ago. You sure you're okay?"

Simon threw himself back. "Yeah… it's one of those dreams again… more vivid than ever…"

After a few moments of listening to the other boy tap away on the laptop and trying to remember the dream, Simon felt something unexpected.

"Joe! Where's Gary?"

"Gary? He's out I think-"

"Why isn't he back here? It's just about lights out now," demanded Simon.

"Uhh, he's doing karaoke with Madoka, Sakurako and Misa, remember?" Joseph stood up and peered up onto Simon's bunk. "Besides, everyone stays up on Friday night."

He almost fell back as Simon jumped out suddenly and made a break for the door.

"What- Where are you going?" spluttered Joseph as Simon pulled on his shoes.

"Going to get Roach," he answered, slipping on a jacket.

"Who?"

"Huh? I mean Gary." Simon was out before his roommate could answer.

* * *

Madoka opened the door to find Simon standing there in his skull patterned pyjamas.

Wondering what the motif was all about she asked, "Hey, what's going on Simon?"

"I'm looking for Gary, I heard he's here," he said a little too bluntly.

The girl looked a little confused but answered, "He's in the middle of a song right now. Would you like come in?"

Nodding, he quickly entered before shutting and locking the door behind him, much to Madoka's consternation. Simon followed her over to the living area where the TV was providing the only light in the dorm. Sure enough there was Gary, standing in front of the TV, attempting to sing a number. Konoka, Misa, Sakurako and Setsuna sat on the couch or on the floor behind him. Simon wished the first three weren't encouraging him although he could tell that Madoka and Setsuna agreed from the way they was wincing.

After fives seconds of listening to Gary produce vaguely human noises from his mouth and sway awkwardly to the music Simon had enough.

"Gary!"

No answer.

"Bedtime mate."

No reply but Setsuna caught on and tapped Konoka on the shoulder.

"It's getting late so we need to go now Konoka ojou-sama."

"Aww… Ok set-chan." She pouted slightly before saying goodbye to the girls and Gary who didn't notice.

Simon didn't have the patience.

"Hey!" Gary protested as he was yanked by his shirt collar and dragged over to the hall. "I haven't finished yet. What are you doing?"

"Extracting you. Let's go."

Simon kicked open the door, peeked left and right down the hall before saying, "All clear."

Still dragging Gary, the two of them made for their dorm. Behind them the three cheerleaders peeked out and stared as Simon, in his black skull patterned pyjamas manhandled his roommate over to their door and knocked.

"What? Is that you Simon?"

The locked could be heard opening but Simon hissed, "Stop you moron. What about the countersign?"

"What? Who are you calling a moron? I'm the one who can lock you out on a whim at this very moment. And what the hell do you mean by a countersign?" retorted Joseph from the other side.

Simon looked up and down the corridor before whispering, "Before one of us allows anyone access we must challenge them to answer correctly. The challenge for this week is Star and the correct countersign is Texas. Got that?"

There was silence for a moment before Joseph said, "What the F**k man. I should just lock you out on principle."

"Well I've got Gary here. You wouldn't want to lock him out now?" Simon looked down at Gary who leaned sulkily against the wall adjacent to the door.

Joseph sighed before saying, "Star."

"What?"

"The countersign you made up you idiot."

"Texas."

* * *

It was a Saturday morning, which normally meant a lazy morning for the inhabitants of Mahora. Asuna as usual had evicted Negi from her bunk before dozing off again.

"Negi maybe you and Asuna should get the boys to see which clubs they would like to join today. Maybe the twins and Kaede can help. There won't be time next week," suggested Konoka as she washed up after breakfast.

"Yeah I'll get on it, can you can get Asuna up by the time I get back?" asked Negi, wiping his mouth and grabbing his staff before bounding out the door.

It felt pleasing but strange to be carrying out a request from his father, despite the fact that it had been years since his worst and best night in Wales. This was almost forgotten after a few minutes of argument with Simon at the door to their dorm.

* * *

"I never heard of any such countersign Simon! I swear I'm Negi Springfield your teacher at Mahora."

"I'm not letting you in without the countersign. I'll say it again. Star."

Negi was about to tear up in frustration until he felt a tap on each shoulder and looked up to see Joseph and Gary smiling down at him.

"Good morning Negi-sensei. Trouble with Simon?" greeted Joseph

He nodded and said, "What's he asking for?"

Gary rolled his eyes and said, "If you want entry from Simon you have to give the right countersign to the right challenge."

"This week it's Star. You'll have to answer with Texas to get in. Both of them will change next week," said Joseph as he knocked on the door.

"Star."

"Ok say it Negi."

"Texas."

There was silence before muffled cussing could be heard through the door as the lock slid open to reveal a very bedraggled Simon.

He pointed an accusatory finger at his roommates who stood on either side of Negi. "Traitors! You're not to reveal the countersign to anyone. And how did you two get outside?"

Negi looked up questioningly at them too before Gary answered, "We climbed out the window while you two were arguing."

Simon frowned and said, "Don't you two forget who's in charge in this dorm."

Before the others could retort Negi quickly changed the topic. "Umm, Asuna and I thought we should go introduce you to some of the clubs you were thinking of joining. Better now than later I guess." He rubbed his hand behind the back of his head.

Back in Negi's dorm Asuna still hadn't roused herself despite Konoka's best efforts.

"I don't know what to say, she's just dead tired," said the girl through a mouthful of toothpaste from the bathroom. "I think it might have been the racket in the hall last night."

Gary and Joseph had the grace to look guilty while the implications of Konoka's comment didn't register in Simon.

"I know how we can wake her," he said, suddenly standing up.

Immediately Negi jumped up too. "I don't think it's a good idea. Every school morning Asuna-san gets up before sunrise for her paper run. Let her rest."

Ignoring him Simon went up to the bunk and said in Asuna's ear, "Rise and shine."

No reply except for grumbling.

"Have you tried all the standard tricks?" he turned and asked Konoka.

"Yeah, ice water, feathers, you name it," she replied, coming out and wiping her face. "What are you doing?"

Simon had gone out into the hall and was hauling in a fire extinguisher.

"Wake up Asuna," he called again, hefting the red metallic cylinder."

"What the heck are you going to do?" Negi, Gary and Joseph watched in horrified fascination as Simon went on.

"Ok here goes nothing."

He pointed the nozzle at the foot of the bed and squeezed the trigger for a short burst of freezing cold CO2."

Asuna murmured something and rolled over. This time he aimed the nozzle at her torso but the cold only made her draw in her blankets tighter. The others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ok Simon, I think we've had enough now. I think the extinguisher's going to run out if you keep going on like that," said Negi.

"Nonsense, we're only getting to the fun part," replied Simon.

Asuna, hearing this cracked open one eye to stare down the nozzle as Simon pulled the trigger.

To Negi in particular, Asuna's demonstration of violence towards another male was something new and frightening.

"Hey! Simon, can you see how many fingers I'm holding?" asked Gary, helping up his roommate after getting smashed with the end of the metal cylinder.

Gary's hand and face appeared to swim and duplicate in Simon's field of vision which was ringed with red. He could hear bells and his own heartbeat pounding in his ears. Gary's voice and those of Negi and Asuna as the teacher tried to calm the older girl down seemed muted and slurred.

"One." He reached out and twisted Gary's middle finger away painfully. "How's my face?" he asked Joseph.

"You're bruised here." He pointed to his cheekbone.

Simon touched the corresponding part of his face and felt something crunch, causing everyone except Asuna to wince.

* * *

One bandaid later and the six of them were out of the dorms and in the main courtyard.

"Argh! I should have remembered to give you a wash this morning Negi-bozo." Asuna suddenly blurted out.

Negi's face fell, hoping that Asuna would have forgotten but to his relief the girl said, "But it's too late now."

"So what's on the agenda today?" asked Konoka as they stopped at a map of the school. "You boys are going to see the clubs today so we should meet back here at three in the afternoon."

"Library Island for me, Haruna and her gang has something going," said Gary, shouldering his backpack and studying the map before running off.

"See you later Gary-kun!" called out Konoka before turning to the other two. "See, Gary's already got something planned, what about you two?"

"Golfing," answered Simon.

"Here, coordinates U-16 within the sports complex area." Negi pointed on the map. "Do you need us to help you get there?"

"Nah, I'll make my own way there." Simon was already running off.

"How about you Joseph?"

He shrugged and replied, "I might go see what this walking club is all about but I'm fine with hanging with you guys today."

"Great we can go and do some shopping for you and your friends," said Konoka enthusiastically.

"So we're leaving school grounds?"

"Not really, Mahora's a bit like a mini-city. About 30 000 people not including the staff and their families," said Asuna.

Joesph whistled. "Wow, what a place. How did you people get used to living in a place like this?"

"You would if you'd been here ever since kindergarten like Konoka," said Negi, "It's an elevator school so you can study on campus all the way up to uni."

The four of them set off in the direction of the shopping district.

* * *

Library Island was a good ten minute jog for Gary. The bridge took five minutes to cross as he weaved in between all the people coming and going.

"There he is!"

A hand reached out and turned him roughly by the shoulder and Gary found himself face to face with the library trio.

"You're a little late aren't you?" said Haruna, "Come on, we're running behind schedule."

The four of them hurried through the library entrance. As soon as they crossed the threshold Gary halted and stared out at the vast maze of bookshelves arrayed before him. Looking up there were five stories more, connected by wooden stairs, wheelchair access lifts and an escalator. These could also access lower levels as well. In the clearings around the bookshelves were study tables and workstations, most of which were occupied.

"Most of our work takes place further away from here," said Yue, jolting Gary back into the real world.

The four of them wound their way past the desks and shelves over to a corner where there was a service lift. Nodoka used the keycard around her neck on the scanner next to the lift controls before the doors shut.

As the numbers on the LED display counted down, Haruna said, "The lift only goes as far as the non-restricted sections which are the areas of the library that have been fully explored and declared safe."

"Nodoka do you have our orders?"

In reply the purple haired girl fumbled with her backpack before dropping it and spilling its contents.

"_Evidently not someone who performs well under pressure,"_ thought Gary, sighing and looking away as Nodoka dropped to her knees and scrabbled to pick everything up.

To her she'd never been in such close proximity to any other guy besides Negi.

The lift finally opened and the three of them alighted onto a quiet, dimly lit corridor. Lighting was provided by oil lamps hung on the wall, unlike the neon lights and windows in the upper levels.

"This is as low as the lift can go," said Yue. "Most of the material here is related to the occult and other esoteric texts if you're interested." She almost mentioned the magic word.

Gary looked vaguely disappointed but kept it out of his tone when he asked, "What are we going to do today?"

Haruna and Yue looked to their shyest compatriot who paraphrased from the sheet of paper in her hand without looking up.

"Retrieval of several books for restoration and preservation. We've got a list here. And we also need to repair the air-conditioning and humidifier units in sub level 6-C."

They all started down the corridor. Their footsteps clattered loudly in spite of all the bookshelves laden with thick volumes. The three metre gap between each shelf seemed narrower because of this. Looking left and right between each row, Gary could see the occasional scholar deeply immersed in a book or writing something down.

After several turns Gary was thoroughly lost. All the shelves were of equal length and the books all had uniformly brown, black or dull coloured spines. He hoped that Yue who was taking point knew the way.

"Is this what you girls do in your spare time?" he wondered aloud incredulously. He knew he wouldn't.

* * *

After he'd signed up with the Golfing Club and picked up his gear, Simon bumped into the 3-A sports girls who were on the way in.

"Simon! What's that you've got there?" asked Yuna, grabbing him around the neck with an arm.

"Ugh… it's a golf bag I rented from the club." He strained to hold up the combined weight of the girl and the bag on his back.

"Yuna, let go you're going to hurt his back," said Akira.

"Oh, sorry. I was hoping you'd join in basketball practise," said Yuna, releasing him. "I never really paid attention to the golf course, only when one of their balls falls into our court.

"Seems like a slow sport," commented Ako, "Most of the boys on the soccer team can't seem to stay still for more than half a minute."

Simon shook his head. "It's harder to play golf than it looks, what it requires is technique. For example you've got to keep your head down through the swing and follow-through just like the pros."

Even though the girls had no idea what he was on about it sounded impressive enough.

"You must be really good at it," complimented Akira, "Perhaps you'd like to join a tournament over there one day."

"Yeah," said Makie enthusiastically. "Akira's a swimming champ, Yuna's the top scorer in basketball and Ako's soccer team is always amongst the top five, our class could really do with another sports star."

"What about yourself Makie?" asked Yuna.

"Huh?"

"You do gymnastics remember? One of the best too," said Ako.

"How could I forget?" She facepalmed.

Simon cast an admiring eye over the four girls in front of him. "Four aspiring sports stars. I only do golf as a hobby as well as cricket."

"Well if you don't mind I've got a few balls to putt and a whole morning to waste." He shifted the golf bag on his shoulder and started before saying, "I'll catch you girls later."

At that moment an idea came to Yuna. "Hey Simon-kun! We're going to do some stretches, how about we come and see what it is you do while we prepare?"

"Sure, just don't be too much of a distraction," he replied, after a little hesitation.

"We won't," said Akira, always one of the most inconspicuous girls of the class.

They drove out onto the green a few minutes later with one of the golf buggies loaned from the club. Simon sweet talked the girl in charge to hand over the keys.

After stopping the vehicles he immediately dismounted and grabbed his stuff while the girls stretched their legs, taking in the scenery around them.

"I had no idea the school could even fit a golf course in," commented Makie, winding her ribbon around her hand.

The three girls except for Ako who'd gone to supervise her team found a spot in the shade, not too far away from where Simon was setting up. Yuna however seemed restless, moving about and getting in the others' way but never taking her eyes off Simon.

While she was stretching Akira came to a sudden realisation. "Oh great, how am I going to get back to the pool in time? My favourite lane's going to be taken now."

Makie clapped a hand over her mouth and fell over. "Ninomiya-sensei's going to be so angry with me if I'm late."

"How about you Yuna? Don't you need to get back in time for basketball?"

"Huh? Oh, season's over so I just practise on a casual basis now," she answered, not really paying attention. She then whispered, "Don't you reckon from this angle he looks a little like my dad?"

The other girls looked accusingly at her.

"Yuna-chan! Did you bring us out here to so you could per-?"

"Ehh! No!" She turned pink in response.

Simon tried to block out their bickering. He placed the last golf ball into the small cleaning apparatus which was mounted on a tripod. Impatiently he plucked it out when there was ten seconds left. He sucked his breath in when he felt a painful pinch and saw a small smear of blood on the surface of the ball.

"Ahh geez, what the hell," he muttered, placing the ball on the tee and pulling out the driver.

"He's going to do it." Everyone's attention was suddenly on him as he straightened his back before leaning over and practising a swing with his driver.

There was a soft whoosh as he completed his follow-through before he brought his arms back for another.

After another eight swings Makie had enough. "Just hit it already!"

Complying, Simon hit the ball cleanly off the tee with a loud thwack. The girls broke out in applause as they peered up into the sky trying to see where the ball's travelling. None of them saw Simon's jaw drop in horror when he realised he'd hit it in the wrong direction.

* * *

The skylight shattered right above Evangeline's head in her lodge where she was being served a cup of tea by her robotic maid and classmate, Chachamaru Karakuri. The female android was fast enough to catch the larger shards but a couple of slivers sliced through the vampire's scalp.

"Arrgh!" Who on earth has the cheek to do something like this to me!" shrieked Evangeline, hopping up and down in fury, not noticing the blood running down her face.

"Calm down master," said Chachamaru, trying to be as soothing as her vocal processors would allow. "You're hurt as well."

"What?" She ran a hand through her hair and that was when she realised the pain.

"Cha…Chachamaru… how bad is it?" Evangeline asked, blinking tears out of her eyes. "And don't beat about the bush."

The robot leaned over and wiped the blood off the vampire's face before examining the injuries. "You'll need stitches master. Shall I administer treatment or should Chachazero do it?"

The vampire ignored her, instead stooping down and picking up the offending golf ball.

"Can you trace the origin of this?" She fought the temptation to squeeze the ball until it shattered.

"Affirmative, it came from the vicinity of the golf course." Chachamaru could answer this thanks to her in-built Doppler radar.

"No shit, I mean exactly where this was hit from? And I don't want to hear any coordinates."

"I can only show you where if that is the case. Otherwise it's approximately five hundred metres south-east of the main Golfing Club building."

Evangeline turned the ball over in her hand and spotted the bloodstain on the surface. She gave it a sniff before handing it to the robot.

"Find out who this blood belongs to as soon as possible."

"Affirmative but I cannot guarantee immediate results," she answered, touching a fingertip to the blood and placing it in her mouth.

"While you do that put on another kettle," commanded Evangeline before calling out, "Chachazero, bring the suture kit and yourself over here on the double!"

Chachamaru continued on with her daily tasks while the DNA search continued in the background. By the time the kettle on the stove had finished boiling she realised the query had taken her beyond the databases in Japan. For some reason she was searching in the DNA registry of the British armed forces.

Confused, she diverted additional memory to the search. Photos, file numbers and PCR amplified DNA schematics flashed through her HUD at a faster rate until a name and file appeared. Ignoring the loudly whistling kettle, Chachamaru wirelessly transmitted the search results back to the printer in her master's study. Hurriedly she left the kettle where it was and retrieved the printout.

"Master?"

The robot returned to the lounge room where Evangeline sat angrily tapping the golf ball on the coffee table while the foot high animated doll, Chachazero stood on her shoulders and stitched closed the cuts in her scalp.

The vampire looked up and asked, "What? I thought I told you to make-."

She stopped when she saw the documents in the robot's hands.

"I assume you're finished?"

"Yes master, this may surprise you though."

Evangeline snatched the papers. The first thing that caught her eye was the photo and the name.

"Lieutenant Simon 'Ghost' Reilly. British Army, 22nd Special Air Service Regiment," she read before scrutinising the photo.

"Chachamaru, can you run a facial comparison on this?"

"Yes master." The robot scanned the face on the photo and cross-checked with the Mahora student database using the corresponding name. A few seconds later she replied, "95%, except for the change in hair and eye colour."

Evangeline nodded and looked back down at the sheet. "They're almost the spitting image of each other… but he's listed as MIA."

She sat there and examined the personality profile while the Chachamaru scurried away to attend to the kettle which had long since overflowed.

"Who's this? Chachazero had just finished her task and was peering over the vampire's shoulder.

"A dead man…"

"Oh." The doll seemed a little disappointed. "I thought you wanted him dead. I guess I won't be needed."

Evangeline looked up at the broken skylight. "Ohh I think you might have your chance."

When Chachamaru returned she asked, "Shall I run a query using the names of the others?"

Evangeline nodded but her thoughts were elsewhere. "_If these were indeed dead men returned to life what of Nagi Springfield? What about his son?_" She promptly dismissed the possibility. "_No, they're total opposites when it comes to personalities .These two Simons are almost identical in every possible way._"

After Chachamaru had brewed some more tea, called for someone to replace the skylight and completed a few chores the search was complete and two batches of handouts were handed to her master. Evangeline placed her cup delicately on top of the first stack and skimmed the titles of the other two.

"Sergeant Gary 'Roach' Sanderson. British Royal Marines, 3 Commando Brigade."

She looked at the next one. "Private First Class Joseph Allen. US Army, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment."

She looked up to see Chachamaru and Chachazero giving her a questioning look.

"Master, do you think there's-."

"I don't know but we'll find out next Saturday won't we?"


	6. Team Player Part 2

**Characters of Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 belongs (not to Tom Clancy as the title suggests) to Ubisoft (which also owns the right to Tom Clancy's name). **

**At the moment this fic is set between the School festival and Magic World arcs. I've also taken the liberty of moving the setting into 2010 but it shouldn't screw with Negima canon too much.**

**I'm a little uncertain with the first half of this chapter so please send any helpful criticism and reviews my way.  
**

* * *

If Negi, Konoka and Asuna hoped to get to know Joseph better that day they were sorely mistaken. They'd managed to get the boring business of grocery shopping done before the girls and Negi insisted that Joseph should accompany them to the mall.

"Let's see what's in here," said Konoka, leading Asuna into a store that appeared to mainly feature vases and Wedgewood products.

Negi looked over his shoulder at his long staff slung over his back and said, "I'll wait out here until you're done. I'd rather not knock something over with this."

"Are you kidding? The stuff in there's way above my pay grade," protested Asuna to her friend. "And what about the brat? We can't leave him out here."

"Don't worry about me Asuna-san. I'm sure Joseph here will take good care of me." Negi waved goodbye to her.

As they sat on a nearby bench the older boy stated, "So you spend all your time hanging with girls?"

"Effectively yeah. But I've still got Chamo, Kotaro and Takamichi for company," replied Negi.

"Ok… you're so young. How did you get yourself into this?"

"I was an Oxford graduate." Negi use his cover story.

Joseph didn't look convinced when he said, "At your age?"

Negi knew he couldn't keep up with Joseph's persistence which was why he was relived to see Kazumi appear from a nearby store.

"Hey there!" she called out while running over. "What are you doing here Joseph-kun?" she asked after running over.

"Getting to know my teacher better," he answered, patting Negi on the back.

"Oh? I heard Gary's gone off with the library lot and Simon's in the company of the athletic girls too," she with a grin. "So why shouldn't you avail yourself of the company of 3-A's best investigative journalist?" She'd already looped an arm through his and was starting to lead him away.

"Umm…" Joseph looked to his teacher for support but Negi said, "Go ahead Asakura-san, Asuna and Konoka will be back soon."

"Relax, don't need to get so tense," said Kazumi after looping an arm through Joseph's. "Let's go where we can have a nice chat. I promise I'll bring him back soon." She added to her teacher.

"I don't mind."

"Where are you taking me?" Joseph started perspiring.

"Oh come on, I won't bite," she said.

"I wouldn't be so sure," whispered Chamo who'd just crawled up onto Negi's back.

"Where'd you been?" the young teacher asked while watching his new student being dragged away awkwardly by Kazumi.

"Around, trying to find out what I can about the newcomers. Anyway Aniki I reckon it's time to get serious. Once the exams and school term ends you should consider finding someone-" He stopped when he noticed Negi's look of mortification. "I don't mean a permanent pactio but if you're going to try and find your father maybe you should begin outsourcing."

Negi didn't like what he was hearing. "What do you mean?"

"I mean those boys could easily act as a Minister Magi for you. The spec ops part sounds especially good, mixing things up for your party. I guess Mana has some competition now."

"Waahhh?" Negi almost fell over in shock. "A pactio with a guy?" he said weakly. "Chamo are you sure you're not trying to profiteer?"

"No. What I mean is you can't just have all girl pactios Aniki," reasoned the pervert ermine.

Negi stared at him for a while before saying, "What's gotten into you lately? Has it got something to do with you diving into a box full of boxer shorts?"

He took the ermine's silence as neither confirmation nor denial.

"And how did you know?" he asked to break the awkward silence.

"The walls have ears Aniki and I know the ventilation system like the back of my paw," replied the ermine.

"Did you tell anyone about this? Especially Kazumi and Haruna."

"Not yet."

The boy breathed in a sigh of relief as Chamo lit up a cigarette.

Nearby Kazumi had guided Joseph to a café table before sitting opposite. With a flourish she melodramatically slammed a notepad on the table.

"So I'm Kazumi as you may know. It's so exciting to have a boy like you attending our school," she said cheerily. "I work for the school newspaper and if you don't mind I'd really like to get to know you and your friends better."

"If that's what you wish."

She giggled and replied, "No need for such formality. Negi was like that when he first arrived. I daresay you'll get used to us soon enough."

Joseph blinked and said nothing. In reply Kazumi inwardly sighed and said, "Can you tell me how you got here? I tried asking Gary but he said he didn't know. You can trust me." She winked.

"_She's perceptive_." He shook his head. "I'm sorry but all I got was a letter of invitation from the Dean."

The girl pouted before moving on. "What do you reckon of Mahora so far?"

"Hmm? Oh it's not too bad." He gestured around him. "I haven't seen much other than out the window of a moving car but I like what I see."

Kazumi grinned a little at this. "You like what you see huh?"

"Uhh…"

"No need to be shy here. We're all friends here."

Before the boy could answer there was a sudden cry as the Narutaki twins jumped out from under a table next to theirs.

"Hey Joseph-kun! Are your ready to join the club?"

"Huh?" The boy eyed them both suspiciously, his shoulders were still sore from the day before.

"Come on! Don't you remember what Kaede told you?" asked Fuka.

"Yeah! She promised us you would join!" added Fumika.

"Fumika-san, Fuka-san I'm sorry to disappoint you but we're in the middle of something important right now," said Kazumi.

"Is it a date?" asked Fumika.

"No it isn't, she's got her notepad out," said Fuka.

"You're going to take forever!" they complained, jumping up and down.

"Actually yeah it's a date," retorted the journalist, "Can't you both mind your own business?"

Joseph tried to raise his voice above the girls but was drowned out almost immediately. He shrugged and got up as the twins both stood on a chair each as they argued with taller girl. He jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Kaede!" he gasped after spinning around.

"Just back away slowly and neither of us will be seen. I'll text the twins as soon as we're out of here, de gozaru."

* * *

The Library Expeditionary Group had stopped at the side of what appeared to be a wooden balcony which was roped off with yellow tape. Beyond that there was nothing but blackness. All the lighting was provided from adjoining corridor. A chilly wind swept up from the unseen depths. When Gary went to look he was utterly gobsmacked by the fact that they were actually standing on a gigantic bookshelf. Stretching down into the dark were shelves and shelves of books, all untouched for obvious reasons.

"So this is book retrieval?" he wondered aloud, taking a step back.

"Not always, it's rare that we have to do go to such extremes," replied Yue, who was preparing the climbing gear.

"What happened here?"

"Apparently there really wasn't a void here a long time ago when this library was first built," said Haruna, sweeping her arms out towards the surrounding darkness. "We think there's more of the library out there but probably due to earthquake activity that section was separated. There's no way we can get to the other side."

"We once tried a UAV that Satomi-san made for us," said Nodoka who was leaning against the wall, well away from the edge.

"It never returned though," said Yue, adjusting her harness. "But we got some really good pictures of icebergs."

"Icebergs?"

They left Gary to ponder that for a moment before all of them except Nodoka were hooked up to the lines. Yue then looked down at the numbers marked at various intervals along the top of the gigantic bookshelf.

"Ok according to this." She held up their checklist. "The first item we need to find is The Koralev Annals from column 13, row 62."

Gary stood over the number and looked down the shelf. "So we're abseiling down there?"

"Hey Gary, how about coming to check my gear?"

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, buddy checking's always important." She suggestively wiggled the straps on her climbing harness which went over shoulders, chest, waist and thighs. "It's for our safety after all."

"You can't be serious," replied Gary, tightening his own harness.

"Totally."

Yue stepped in to save Gary. "I'll check for you."

A minute later they were all ready with Yue and Haruna ready to go over the edge. Nodoka and Gary assisted them respectively by staying on the shelf to hold the ropes.

"Ok, let us down until we tell you to stop," ordered Haruna.

"As we descend we count the numbers labelled on each shelf," Yue explained to Gary, "Starting from 1 being the row immediately below.

"How deep have you gone?"

"We've counted down to 126 before," said Nodoka, perspiring a little while Yue carefully went over the edge.

Gary noticed her look discomfort she slowly let down the rope for her friend.

"You reckon you can bear her weight?" he asked as he let Haruna descend as well.

"Yeah, I've been trying to build up my strength and stamina lately," she answered after taking a breath.

"Maybe Yue should have gone to the bathroom before going down," joked Gary nervously as he noticed the cord in the girl's hand slip slightly.

"I heard that!" The reply came through his walkie talkie.

* * *

Yuna, Akira and Makie decided to hang with Simon until 1pm. They returned to the green after buying lunch and settled down for a picnic. While he'd been able to complete a few rounds he'd also given his new companions regular turns at trying the various clubs. Makie and Akria had caught on well to the sport while Yuna required him to use the 'hands on approach'."

"I missed. Can you show me how to do it again?"

Somehow Makie and Akira knew that their friend's helplessness in golf was feigned.

"Again?" Simon was in the middle of the swing and stopped suddenly when he heard her. "I'm not doing that again," he muttered, trying not to stomp over.

Standing in front of her unlike last time, he held her wrists and guided them through the backswing and the follow-through. The basketballer blushed a little as he did so, not as much as Simon when he was helping her before from behind.

"Try another practise swing," he instructed.

"Ok." Yuna raised the driver and whipped it around. Simon was just taking a step back as she did so and caught the thick end of the club on the ankle, knocking him flat on his back.

"Owww." He croaked before opening an eye only to look up Yuna's basketball shorts.

"Uh oh," whispered Akira.

The boy gasped as several blood vessels in his open eye ruptured, filling his vision with blood.

"Simon! Are you alright?" Makie dropped to their knees next to him as he quickly covered his frighteningly bloody eye.

"I just… just excuse me one moment," he stuttered, getting to his feet and sprinting away, leaving the bewildered girls with his gear and buggy.

A few minutes later Simon was in the Golf clubhouse accessories store, searching about frantically. There were a few other students about who gave him a strange look as he was still covering his eye. He skidded to a stop as soon as he'd found what he was looking for. Upon closer inspection of the item behind the glass he could see his own slightly deformed reflection clearly as well as that of the person standing behind him.

"What happened?" asked Yuna.

Simon sighed and leaned his head against the display cabinet in front of him.

"Not really," he answered after a pause. "Listen, I'm sorry about umm…"

"It's alright, the same thing happens to Negi-sensei on a daily basis, mainly with Asuna," she said with a grin.

Simon returned her smile with one of his own. "Really now? He doesn't have a persistent problem like this does he?"

He moved his hand away and looked Yuna in the face for a moment before turning away. To his surprise he didn't hear a scream or any indication of disgust from the girl.

"Wow Simon-kun!" She giggled. "I wasn't aware you're such a pervert. At least you're original at it."

"Well you did knock me over," he retorted, glancing down at his now bruised ankle. "Haven't met anyone who could do that to me since primary school."

Yuna pumped her fist up and down. "Probably due to the basketball I play. By the way what are you looking for?"

"Oh? Something to cover up my eyes." He nodded towards the cabinet.

Yuna looked inside and marvelled at the array of sunglasses lined up before their eyes. Brands from Addidas, Ray Bans and Lacoste to name a few.

"So… wanna help me pick out a pair?" offered Simon.

* * *

Domingo Chavez's face, aka. Rainbow Six appeared on the widescreen aboard the C-17 a few minutes after it took off from the Juan Santamaria airport, Costa Rica. Marion Bishop straightened up in her seat as she saw her friend and superior, soon to be immediate superior shuffle about uncomfortably on the other end.

"Something wrong Ding?" she asked.

"Got some news for you," said the director of RAINBOW, a secret multinational counter-terrorism organisation.

The other RAINBOW members, Logan Keller, Michael Walter, Jung Park and the men and women of Charlie and Delta team looked up in surprise. They looked forward to a day of well earned rest after breaking the siege of Vegas and hunting down the traitor, Gabriel Nowak.

"_No news is good news_," thought Bishop, a little puzzled. "Was it to do with the leaked data?" she asked.

Six waved it off and said, "Nah, no need to worry about that. Nowak only managed to close the deal with one buyer; we'll track down whoever it was but…"

It seemed unusual to see Six seem so uneasy. It was uncharacteristic of his decisive action in rescuing Dieter Weber, a sniper specialist under his command in Alpha team a year ago.

"Nowak's my screw-up," said Bishop, echoing the words of the former RAINBOW member, Gabriel Nowak during their confrontation a few hours earlier at his villa. "If I need to clean up the mess just say the word."

Michael called out, "If that's the case I'm in." The other RAINBOW commandos nodded in agreement while Jung and Logan called out, "Hear, hear."

Six smiled wanly; proud of all the men and women before him who all looked as tired as he felt. The terrorist attacks on Las Vegas had him up without sleep for more than two days straight. It'd cost more from the men and women on the ground, even more so from Echo team. He'd never lost so many comrades at once since his days with the US Army 7th Infantry Division in Colombia.

"It's actually regarding your promotion to deputy director."

"Oh?" Bishop was surprised, even more so since the offer to become Rainbow Five was so fresh in her mind.

"It seems that our higher ups have decided to yank the chain for some reason and your promotion's been delayed pending evaluation," said Six. By that he meant his superiors in NATO which provided the majority of the organisation's members and resources were exerting their influence, something which Chavez was clearly resenting with his tone of voice.

"I argued the best I could but they've effectively overruled me on this," he said with a shrug before whistling sharply to silence the cries of disbelief and calls of "Bravo Sierra" from the people on the plane.

Bishop's only show of disappointment was a grimace. "So it's pending evaluation, maybe they're just reviewing the events of the past few days or just bureaucratic lag?"

Six shook his head and replied, "You've still got one more assignment before the higher-ups will approve your promotion."

"I'm all ears."

"You still good with Asian languages?"

"Yeah I'd spent some time at Yokota AFB and Yongsan with the 2ID. Why?"

"Better get good again with Japanese, the land of the rising sun is where you're going next."

_Also the home of Kan Akahashi_.

Everyone sadly recalled the fate of their comrade who was captured and killed thanks to Nowak. Logan, Jung and Michael who saw him die in Dante's Casino after escaping looked especially down.

Bishop tried to keep her voice as even as possible. "Understood sir, what's going on?"

"Go to the briefing compartment and we can discuss it there."

Bishop nodded before the screen switched off. As she got up and went to the aft of the plane she could feel the eyes of the rest of her teammates following almost like targeting lasers. The briefing room was really just a walled off section within the plane's passenger compartment. Besides being electromagnetically and acoustically shielded, it was also bug proof. Sitting down in one of the seats, Bishop waited until the widescreen on the wall in front flickered on.

"You understand that everything I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential. This is just as secret as the existence of our organisation as well."

Bishop nodded and Six continued, "You've been tasked with the training of these persons over the next few weeks. The training scheme is officially a Black Project funded by the British Ministry of Defence."

Several photographs appeared on screen, three of them were boys in their mid-teens but the last was a pre-pubescent red head. Bishop almost fell off her seat in shock.

"You can't be serious? That one…" She read the name. "Negi Springfield looks like he has yet to get acne."

"Yes I am. It should only be for the remainder of this school term in Japan and probably a few weeks into the holidays."

"What?" Bishop had forgotten how long a school term's meant to last. "Won't I be essentially training child soldiers?"

Six sighed and replied, "No, I've received assurances that these children will not be conscripted or employed by any military organisation until at least the age of eighteen. Even so it will only be voluntary. But then you did teach this young woman a few years back."

Another photo appeared on screen. Bishop tasted acid from her already empty stomach.

"What? Mana Tatsumiya?"

"The old man's files passed onto me remember?"

John Clark, Chavez's predecessor and father-in-law personally approved candidates to the RAINBOW counter-terrorism academy at RAF Credenhill, Hereford which was shared with the British SAS. A few years ago Bishop as head training instructor was placed in a mentoring role for RAINBOW's youngest recruit.

"I was just on the phone with him and he recalled how impressed you with her performance despite your initial reservations."

"Yes, it's something you're not likely to ever forget," answered Bishop, leaning back in resignation.

After a moment she looked up and asked, "Why me? Couldn't we get someone closer from Quantico or Swanbourne?"

She referred to the joint USMC-FBI training facility and Campbell barracks of the Australian SAS respectively. RAINBOW frequently sought new talent there and utilised them as secondary training bases.

"Out of the question Bishop. You're the best we have and that's who they requested," answered Six.

"Who's they?" asked Bishop suspiciously.

"Mahora Academy."

"Never heard of them."

"You have now and you need to be there by 1200 local time, Sunday."

"What? Bishop checked her watch.

"We're stopping first at Hickam AFB at Honolulu where everyone else will depart before we fly you to the home islands and then you'll be inserted directly into the grounds of Mahora."

"Direct insertion?" She didn't like this at all.

Six smiled and said, "We've calculated that you won't get there in time if you touch down conventionally so you're going to parachute in. Low or high opening is up to you."

* * *

**I always wanted to do a Rainbow Six/ Modern Warfare cross. BTW if you're confused about this half it's set immediately after the end of Rainbow Six Vegas 2. **

**If you think about it Negi and Bishop (female) are almost opposites. **

**Negi- Young, male, novice-mage teaching English to schoolgirls in Japan. Many of whom are romantic interests.  
**

**Bishop (fem)- Late 30s, early 40s?, female, combat veteran training younger men and women into commandos in England. No romantic interests.  
**

**Both are badass. **


	7. Cliffhanger Redux

**These first few chapters have been more Negima than Call of Duty. I will be switching over to the crossover section when I begin putting in the flashback chapters. I will let you readers know when that happens. In the meantime enjoy and review. **

* * *

"Now I know why you girls only go down one at a time," muttered Gary, straining on the rope which was all that kept Haruna from falling into the abyss.

Nodoka didn't answer as she was too busy trying to hold up Yue.

"57… 58…" Haruna's voice counted over his walkie talkie. She could be heard echoing up softly.

"Once we reach 62 let out a little more rope and then attach it to that post behind you," instructed Yue over the same channel.

"Got it, just let us know when you're ready."

Gary looked down at his gloved hands which had gone dark and grimy. He would have to let his hands breath after keeping them stifled like that for ten minutes. Looking over at Nodoka he could see her arms were shaking from the effort.

"We're here. Just let us down three extra levels and then we'll get to work," said Haruna.

After he'd done that he turned and started pulling the line over to the post behind him and Nodoka. As he did so he heard a scream from the purple haired girl and her walkie talkie. The rope had torn her gloves to shreds and was rapidly spooling out of the roll behind her.

"Hold on Haruna!" he quickly clipped the end of his of rope to his harness and shoved Nodoka out of the way just as the end of Yue's rope went over the edge.

"Got it!" He laid on his side with the rope in hand for a second just before he felt it go taught and…

"Shit!" Gravity dragged him over the edge.

Nodoka made a dive but missed. "Hold on! Don't let go!" she cried out.

Yue and Haruna screamed as they plummeted before they halted with a violent jolt. Yue had the indignity of falling upside down after her foot briefly caught on a protruding plank.

"What happened?" whimpered Haruna, once she'd recovered from the shock.

"Either the rope caught on something which is highly unlikely or they're still holding onto us which is impossible since we'd fallen fifteen levels I think," answered the other girl, her hair swinging about below her as she tried to right herself in mid air.

_

* * *

Roach was hanging by one arm to the ice cliff. Looking down there was only an opaque white abyss. The cold wind stung his face as he forced himself to look back up the ice cliff he'd just slid down. As he did so he glanced towards the sun, obscured behind the clouds as a bright patch. _

"_F**k!" _

_His only good arm was burning and he won't be able to hold on any longer. He's too far away for help now. _

_Shutting his eyes, Roach felt his hand give way… _

_For a second he was weightless before he felt someone's wrap firmly around his wrist._

* * *

Gary opened his eyes and saw Nodoka hanging from her own harness. Breathing a sigh of relief he clipped Yue's line onto his harness. Once that hand was free he nodded up at his rescuer.

"Ok on three," she said.

They both counted, "One… two… three!"

Nodoka heaved and threw him up as best she could. That was enough for Gary to grab the shelf about. Quickly he found himself a foothold before reaching out with his other arm for the shelf above the first.

"Hey! What's happening?" asked Yue.

"We're going back up!" cheered Haruna.

Gary grunted from the exertion as he ascended the ten or so metres he had fallen. Next to him Nodoka quickly scaled the shelves with ease thanks to the rope she'd wrapped around the post. Getting to the top first she turned and helped drag Gary over the edge. Once he was over he stumbled over to the post and attached the girls' lines before he pulled them in with assistance from Nodoka again. A minute later everyone had returned to the top and was lying exhausted on their backs.

"Thank you… Gary-kun…" panted Yue and Haruna, leaning against the wall.

"No… I gotta thank Soap…" muttered Gary.

Yue sat up. "Who's Soap?"

Gary didn't answer.

"Nickname for a childhood friend?" asked Haruna with a tired grin.

"I mean Nodoka here."

* * *

"You know Asuna-san when I put all our results into the spreadsheet last night I realised that our class will be back to being last in the rankings," said Negi as he, Konoka, Chamo and Asuna left the mall and walked over to the sports complex on the other side of the campus.

The red head rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me please," she whined. "Argh! I should've studied before the festival."

Konoka smiled sympathetically and said, "Well since Chao-chan's gone her marks don't count any more right? Is that why our average is so low?"

"Something like that," replied the teacher before saying to Asuna, "Cheer up! We just need to push ourselves that extra mile this week. We shouldn't try to restart the class trend of coming last again."

Asuna looked downcast as she said, "Yeah I guess. Besides why are you telling us this now?"

"Well I got to tell the whole class on Monday so it doesn't really matter."

"Thank you Negi-sensei," said Konoka with a small bow.

Asuna who wanted to steer the conversation away from the pending exams cast her mind back to her discussion with Evangeline a few days earlier.

"Negi, do you remember back on Wednesday… I think we talked about forming the new club to find your dad."

"Um." Negi scratched his head.

"The day when I caught Konoka and Setsuna almost about to form a pactio?" Asuna looked pointedly at her friend who blushed and giggled.

"Oh!" The boy snapped his fingers. "Yeah what about it?"

"How about we get the Simon, Joseph and Gary to join? They're receiving special training as per your father's instructions after all. Maybe this is part of some grand scheme from him," she suggested.

Chamo, who was wrapped around the back of Negi's neck said, "Wow, ane-san that's the brightest thing you've said all week."

"That's a bit rich coming from you," she retorted, yanking the ermine up by his snout and pinching its mouth closed. "All you've done is almost expose magic to the newcomers prematurely and dive around in boxers."

Konoka smiled and said, "Well I have to say that is a good idea Asuna, although I hope they won't need to umm… kill anyone. Even Set-chan hasn't killed anyone yet, only demons."

"Yeah…" Negi wholeheartedly agreed as they stopped by the Chao Bao Zi store.

* * *

"Phew, looks like we got out without anyone noticing," said Kaede, peeking around a corner as they left the mall via the carpark.

"I take it you really want me to join your Walking Club," remarked Joseph stood right behind her, wondering why she was holding his hand.

"Yep," she replied while texting. "Come on, this way."

Carefully they threaded their way between the various vehicles and proceeded for the exit. The phone in Kaede's pocket suddenly started ringing.

"Must be the twins calling, de gozaru." Upon answering she frowned as she caught an earful of static.

"Problem with reception?" asked Joseph, awkwardly wedged between two motorcycles.

"You could say that. Must be the concrete in this building," she replied, "I'll need to find some clear sky so hold on a tick.

She wandered out away from the stationary vehicles, looking up and around for a moment before proceeding towards a spot where there was sunlight. Joseph couldn't help but admire her grace as she carefully slid over and between each parked vehicle. He followed along slowly, making sure to check both ways unlike Kaede.

"Uh you might wanna check your surroundings before wandering around like that," he warned, almost tripping over a wheel clamp.

"Oh don't worry about her."

Joseph spun around to see the Narutaki twins sitting atop a car bonnet to his left.

"I thought she was calling you over."

"She was," answered Fuka, pulling out her phone.

"We know a few shortcuts." Fumika pointed to a nearby emergency exit.

"Well that's fast, but why's she still on the phone then?" asked Joseph, nodding towards the tall girl who was still trying to find reception there.

Fuka rolled her eyes. "Sometimes she really is a Baka Ranger."

"What's that?"

"That's what the bottom five scorers in our class call themselves," answered Fumika, "She's Baka Blue, Make's Pink, Yue's Black, Ku Fei's Yellow and Asuna's Red."

"Right then…" an uncomfortable minute of silence ensued as the three of them watched Kaede struggling to find good reception.

"Shouldn't we let her know?" asked Joseph.

Fuka shook her head. "Nah, Fumika and I want to see how low she'll take to realise the connection's been cut."

"As soon as she's done let's give you a run down of Mahora," said Fumika.

To Joseph's horror a car suddenly turned a corner quickly with Kaede in the way. As he opened his mouth to shout a warning she suddenly disappeared.

"What the-?" He jumped up and ran over to the spot where she just was, knocking over a motorcycle along the way and bruising his thigh.

Once Joseph had reached the spot he realised there was no sign of her. Frantically he knelt down and checked underneath the nearest car. Hearing footsteps he looked up to see the twins approach.

"Have you seen where she's gone?" he asked urgently.

They both smiled and pointed up. He did and to his utter amazement there was Kaede, sitting on the upper level.

"Hey Joseph, still no reception up here," she said, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder as she leapt down. That was when she noticed the twins.

"No wonder why I couldn't contact you, de gozaru."

"Wait… You were standing at the corner just then and now you were up there. You disappeared. Just what did you do?" spluttered Joseph.

Kaede smiled enigmatically as usual. "Ninjistu, ask the twins."

* * *

The names Roach and Ghost sounded very familiar to Evangeline. She rubbed her fingers over the stitches in her scalp. Since it was only just past the full moon her magical power was at their lowest ebb and completely healing those injuries would take at least four days. Getting off her couch and sliding the latest issue of the school newsletter off her face she went into her study and booted up her computer. Once that was done she looked up the Most Wanted List in Mundus Magicus.

At the top was her name, still Number 1 with a bounty of 6 million drachmas, accumulated from almost half a millennia of mischief and destruction. Evangeline's face smiled evilly out from the screen, the mugshot was of her older guise. Attached to her file was her rap sheet which consisted of unlawful vampiric activities, public endangerment, assault and disturbing the peace amongst many others although there weren't any offences against children. Her various titles like 'Apostle of Destruction, Maga Nosferatu and Queen of the Night amongst many others were still there.

Bastian de Kere, former Megalosembrian Defence Secretary was Number 2 with a 5 million drachma bounty for high treason and worse.

Number 3 was an entire section for the designated terrorist organisation known as Taskforce 141. Opening the link she was surprised to find very little detail. The vast majority of the members only had aliases to identify themselves. The interesting thin was that the members, referred to as High Value Targets were sorted into playing cards. All were at large for 'violent acts against the government and global terror' with individual bounties of 3 million drachmas. The apparent leader, Captain John Price was the Ace of Spades. Captain John 'Soap' MacTavish was the Ace of Hearts. The Ace of Clubs was Ghost; the only photo was of a man with wearing a skull imprinted balaclava with red tinted sunglasses. A thin red line ran through his name indicating he was either dead or captured.

She scanned through the various aliases: Archer-Ten of Hearts, Rook-Six of Diamonds, Worm-Jack of Clubs and more. She found Roach who was the King of Spades, no face was provided however. Since Joseph Allen's name didn't appear she scrolled up and prepared to exit until a photo caught her eye. The Jack of Diamonds, Alexi Borodin. The face was uncannily alike. What stood out the most was his apparent involvement in the massacre at the Hellain Gateport in which at least five hundred were gunned down.

Evangeline jumped when she heard a noise from behind.

"Master?" Chachamaru stood near the door to the study with a spare printer cartridge in hand. Evangeline had a feeling she had also seen the search results.

"Hey look! That guy's nearly beaten my record!" exclaimed Chachazero, perched on the top of the doorframe.

* * *

Negi and his companions finally got around to the golf field where Simon was ready for his last hole. Akira had left to check on Ako so it was only Makie and Yuna left. As he practised his swings Makie lay on the grass nearby and idly unravelled the ribbon around her wrist.

With a snap the iron made contact with the ball, knocking it cleanly off the tee. A second after, Simon looked up, expecting to see the ball disappearing amongst the tree tops. After failing to see where it flew, he took off his newly acquired red tinted Oakleys and kicked the turf.

"Bugger! That's the ninth time now."

The gymnast snickered behind her hand and rolled the ball over to Yuna who sat nearby, sitting on a small pile of balls acquired in much the same way.

"When should we tell him?" asked Yuna.

"When he's finished the club will undoubtedly ask him to compensate for the missing balls. That's when we'll return them," Makie replied.

As he placed his last ball on the tee Simon saw Negi and his friends on the pavement near the turf. Suddenly an idea came to him.

"Hey Negi! Think fast!" he shouted and whacked the ball towards the boy.

Simon hadn't taken into account the many hours of reflex training from Evangeline. Negi heard the warning and spotted the approaching projectile in his peripheral. With ease he raised a hand and stopped it in mid air.

"What?" Simon stared. The ball was aimed perfectly at the boy and yet there was no impact.

Only for a second though. No sooner had Negi halted the ball, Asuna stepped forward with her harisen drawn.

"Batter up!"

With a crack the ball came hurtling back at Simon.

"Not again," he managed to groan before the ball hit him straight in the chest, bruising the sternum.

Makie and Yuna who were lying down and didn't see this but they did hear his cry as he fell.

"Simon? Are you alright?" Yuna tried to get up but the balls she was sitting on made her roll down the small incline, all the way down on top of Simon.

"What!" Makie got up, spotted Negi and then stared down upon Simon and Yuna. "Ahahah, look at them down there. Did you see that Negi-sensei?"

The weight of Yuna falling across his midsection woke Simon up.

"Wha… Why's it so heavy," he rasped.

Raising his head he found the basketballer sitting on his stomach.

"Can you please move, it's uncomfortable and embarrassing," he requested as calmly as possible.

Yuna shook her head with a mock frown. "Not unless you take back what you said about my weight."

"Huh? Since when?"

"Just now you called her heavy," called out Makie.

"Heavy?" Simon tried to edge under but Yuna kept him pinned. "Well I'll be damned, that's more like-."

"You were saying?" she asked in a mock threatening tone.

"Uhh." Negi rubbed the back of his head as he observed the spectacle. "Sorry about that Simon!" he called out.

While Konoka laughed heartily at the sight, Asuna huffed and said, "He deserved to be hit but certainly not that."

* * *

"You've got to be shitting me," murmured Gary as he stood on the ledge, looking out upon the snow covered slope before him.

Large platforms organised into varying levels jutted out below him which held about two dozen large bookshelves. Above was the stone ceiling which was almost invisible because of the snow and ice. At the far end he could see what looked like a bundle of immense diagonal twisted pillars.

"How can a faulty air conditioning unit be the cause of all this?" he wondered aloud.

The girls with him all shrugged. Haruna handed him a photograph.

"This is what it looked like before," she said.

Gary raised it up and compared it to the scene before him.

"You've got a bloody thriving down down here. What's the cause behind all this vegetation?" he demanded to know.

"Nutrients leaking out of the World Tree's roots make the soil down here fertile," answered Nodoka.

"Where's the sunlight though?"

"It's because of the World Tree's-." Haruna didn't get to finish her sentence before her companions each placed a hand over her mouth.

"So those are from the World Tree?" he asked, pointing at the gigantic pillars at the other side and scrutinising the photograph.

"Yes, that's one of the many roots of the World Tree. We're approximately one hundred metres underground presently," confirmed Yue.

Gary shook his head, forgetting about the problem of sunlight. "This is crazy… So how are we fixing the air-con?"

Yue pointed. "Just halfway down the slope. We need to take the stairs connecting each platform. It's too dangerous to slide down, tempting as it may seem."

He nodded and led the way to the stairs that descended to the first platform. The wind and snow started to pick up and the girls shivered, pulling their coats around themselves.

"Storm's picking up," commented Yue.

Putting his foot down on the first step, Gary felt it creak uncomfortably. Remaining very still he called back, "Listen, it'll be better if one of you stay up there, just in case something happens."

Haruna nodded and said, "I'll be in touch with the walkie-talkie."

Gary returned and shrugged off his backpack. He then passed two squarish electronic devices to the girl.

"What's this?" she asked, turning one of them over in her hands and flicking it on. "It looks like a set of binoculars."

"It's an AN/PAS-22 thermal imager; you should be able to see our heat profiles down there even if the snow's too thick to see anything. It's also a laser rangefinder attached."

"Ah got it." She winked and hung the device around her neck before examining the second device which resembled a PDA.

"Did Hakase-san give you those?" asked Nodoka.

"No… birthday present from ages ago," lied Gary. The former was true but the devices came from one of the boxes which came in yesterday.

"Haruna, check your heartbeat sensor."

She complied and the screen on the second device flickered on with a pulsing radar-esque screen. Three blue dots appeared immediately on screen before they faded and reappeared as the device updated itself.

"You should be able to see us on the scope. Those blue dots are me, Yue and Nodoka. Any unrecognised contacts will show up as white dots," instructed Gary.

Yue frowned and asked, "How does it differentiate?"

The boy smiled and said, "It's a bit like magic I guess." He turned back to Haruna. "Use the thermal scope and provide overwatch from this ridge. We'll be ghosts in this blizzard so you won't be able to see us. Keep an eye on the heartbeat sensor."

The girl nodded. "Good luck."

Gary then said to Yue and Nodoka, "Alright let's take this nice and slow."

The three of them carefully proceeded down the platforms, making sure to hold onto the handrails. A thin coating of ice on the metal walkway made it very hazardous but fortunately the girls had the foresight to borrow boots with crampons from the Mountaineering Club. Occasionally they had to descend using ladders which was frustratingly slow. Gary spotting for his companions should they fall but fortunately nothing serious had transpired yet.

"Ok you're about thirty five metres away," reported Haruna.

"Got it," answered Gary, "Let's take a break over here."

They stopped at their platform and sat down around a table. That and all the bookshelves around them all seemed very incongruous. While the Yue pulled out a thermos and Nodoka went off to search amongst the shelves, Gary was asked a very uncomfortable question over the walkie talkie.

"Hey Gary, I just remembered. Kazumi wanted to ask you and I also want to ask you if you have or had a girlfriend."

That almost caused him to slip over.

"What? Are you trying to kill me here?" he shouted, trying to make his voice heard over the wind.

"Aww come on. Trying to reduce tension here," she replied.

"You're doing a very good job… and no, I don't," he answered, before looking up to see Yue watching curiously and Nodoka peeking out between a gap in a shelf.

"How about you girls?" he asked.

They turned away with slight blushes, although it could just be because of the stinging wind.

"They're both after the teacher," whispered Haruna conspiratorially.

She didn't realise that everyone was on the same channel. Gary heard a thud as Nodoka slipped over while Yue spilled the thermos contents.

"Negi-sensei?" He quickly put his walkie-talkie out of reach as Yue suddenly reached out. "Request confirmation that Yue and Nodoka-san both have a crush Negi-sensei."

Haruna chucked. "That's a roger…" before peering through the imager again. "Hey Yue, Nodoka! You're both burning up on the scope."

Gary looked over at the blue haired girl. She was indeed giving off steam.

"And they're going red on the heartbeat sensor too."

"What a player," muttered Gary, before grinning. "Well that's a good way of breaking the tension."

After a few minutes of careful treading they had reached the required platform. The control panel for the air-con however was built into the side of the ice cliff. Below the panel was a large vent which hummed loudly.

"I'll go down this time," said Gary before either Nodoka or Yue could open their mouths. "Just give me the instructions and I'll get right on it."

"Be careful down there," warned Nodoka as she took his backpack.

"Don't worry, I'll get back in one piece." He attached the line to the hand rail this time and clambered over to the other side facing out.

"Hey don't you need someone to help hold the line?" questioned Yue, puzzled.

"No… Just watch me."


	8. Flashback: Hunted and Death from Above

**Here's the first flashback chapter. It will have more Modern Warfare than Negima which is why I'll be moving the fic to the crossover section on Ocotober 11th, FF time. If there's any feedback I'll be very grateful thanks. I also want to avoid anachronisms so I changed some of the weapons used by the characters.**

* * *

25 Years Ago

"Alright Soap. You're looking after the Theodora," said Price as soon as they had boarded the UH-60 Black Hawk. Behind them the battle between Hellian Royalists and Ultranationalists continued on the other side of the village. Distant shouts and incantations, punctuated with explosions were audible over the drone of the helicopter blades.

"Why?" The most junior member of the group whinged.

"Better you than the rest of us." Gaz grinned, scratching the stubble on his face and buckling in.

"Yay! My rescuer!" cheered the princess who had the physique of a nine year old as she leapt onto Soap's back, on top of his already heavy bergen. To the utmost amusement of the other Task Force commandos and Soap's embarrassment she started ruffling his mohawk.

"Ugh! Will you get off so I can get into the chopper?" asked Soap, rolling his eyes.

"Where are your manners? Ladies first Soap," called out Gaz.

"_Thanks a lot you greasy haired bastard_," he thought as he shrugged off his bergen, picked up the wriggling princess and handed her over to Pharaoh who buckled her into her seat. He then lugged his bergen into the back before sitting down next to the Theodora.

"Where are we going?" she asked as soon as they lifted off.

"To a safehouse at an undisclosed location. Your father's on the front lines against the Ultranationalists so he told us to send you as far from the fighting as possible," said Price.

Soap then lightly kicked his superior officer in the shin.

"What?"

"Don't pile all the problems on the wee one so soon."

"What did you call me?" Theodora demanded to know.

Soap held up his hands in appeasement. "No offense, your highness. Only an expression us Brits use back home."

"_For brats that is_."

Gaz and Price looked at each other. "_This is going to be one long night_."

* * *

The Black Hawk quickly clawed its way through the cool Hellian night, staying low to avoid anti-aircraft fire. Two Task Force 141 troopers, Pharaoh and Hazard, manned the M134 miniguns on the side. Price and Gaz worriedly watched the live coverage from Gaz's laptop of the Megalosembrian invasion of the Carbacz Revolutionary Republic in pursuit of Khaled Al-Asad. After a few hours of finger games, Simon Says, I SPY and pointless questions like: "Are we there yet?" Theodora had fallen asleep in Soap's lap.

"Awww ain't that cute." Gaz had looked up from his laptop. "Hey look at this, lads."

"Oi, none of that." Soap reached out, intending to snatch the cap off the 2iC's head and throw it out the open door. Gaz countered, slapping his outstretched arm out of the way.

"Knock it off you two," growled Price, "Let her sleep. We'll be out of Hellian airspace in two hours.

At that moment an alarm sounded. Soap looked to his right out the door and saw a dot of light with a smoke trail.

"What the bloody hell is that? Price leaned over to see. The cigar in his mouth dropped out when he saw it. "Incoming missile! Hang on!"

"Shit. I only had the magical jammers on," cursed the co-pilot, rapidly stabbing buttons on the dashboard.

"What was that?" The princess stirred and sat up, puzzled at why all the adults around suddenly looked very frightened, or as frightened as a bunch of well trained Task Force 141 commandos could get.

"Surface to air missile," said Gaz, shutting his laptop and checking if his gear was strapped on.

There was an ear splitting crash as the missile exploded behind the tail rotor of the helicopter. Everyone was violently jolted; Price bit the inside of his tongue while Gaz bumped his head against the side of the chopper.

"Mayday! This is Hammer 6-4! We're going down! I repeat, we're going down 2 miles south of Wake 45," reported the pilot serenely as he valiantly guided the ailing helicopter to the flattest piece of land he could see.

"Whaaaaats, going on?" asked Theodora, eyes staring widely up at Soap.

"Stay down; it's going to be a crash landing." He glanced out at the spinning landscape which was rising up uncomfortably fast. As he grabbed the princess and covered her from the pending impact, the last thing he could hear before blacking out was the praying of Pharaoh and the whimpers of Theodora.

* * *

A few minutes after impact Soap opened his eyes. Though it was blurred he could see the remains of the Black Hawk. Two people were out and about. He could barely make out the shape of a boonie hat as one of the figures leaned down to inspect something on the ground. The other started marching in his direction before his eyes shut again.

"Wake up!" Soap felt a kick to his torso. He groaned, he didn't want to get out of bed this morning.

"Hey! Get up!" The kick this time went right under his armpit where there was a bruise.

"Ok I'm up," he muttered, opening his eyes to see Theodora and Price standing over him.

"You're still in one piece. Get up. Come on, we need to get moving before the search parties get here," said Price, helping him up.

"Who's kicking me?" asked Soap, shaking the dirt off and looking around.

Price was already off, saying, "Casualty report." So his eyes settled on the little princess in front of him.

"Was that really necessary?" he asked, gingerly rubbing the sore spots while Theodora shuffled her feet, looking guilty.

"You looked like you were dead. Had it been any other day I would have drawn on your face," she answered as they set off join the rest of the survivors.

Soap, pondered this as he pulled out his M1911 and pulled back the slider. "_On second thoughts I'll take the kicks_." He looked around and saw that they had crashed in a field, several farm houses and barnyards could be seen here and there.

"Pharaoh and both pilots are dead, sir," reported Gaz after he'd finished checking a pair of bodies close together.

"Bugger. All right, the extraction point's not far from here. Let's move out," ordered Price, motioning for Soap to grab the guns lying beside the body of Paulsen.

He took the CAR-15 carbine and the MP-5 submachine gun, the latter he slung over his back before checking all the spare magazines in his tactical vest. Fortunately he had an even number of magazines for both. The ones with red tape were anti-demon munitions, the blue ones were jacketed hollow points, green ones were magical barrier piercing and brown was full metal jacket. In the dark he couldn't tell the difference and he really didn't care, high explosive incendiary armour piercing or tungsten put holes in humans, non-humans, demons, armour and magical barriers equally effectively. He twisted around when he heard Theodora whinging about something.

"Look, you gotta put this Kevlar vest on, it'll protect you from any gunfire and its magical reinforcement will also protect against any spells," reasoned Gaz.

"No, I don't wanna wear it," retorted the girl, folding her arms defiantly.

"Gaz, stop arguing with the princess and get the vest on her. What are you? A ten-year old?" called out Price.

The 2iC scowled, tapping the vest against one hand. She's going to be a tough one. Even Kamarov was easier to deal with.

"Let me talk to her," offered Soap, putting his hand on Gaz's shoulder.

"Huh, oh right. I guess you'll be babysitting her again." As he headed off towards the path down to the bridge where Price and Hazard were waiting he called out, "Thanks Soap."

Watching Gaz stumble slightly down the gravel road, Price turned to Hazard with a query, "What was with that SAM that was launched at us? I would have thought they would have shot us down with a seeking spell."

The Task Force member shrugged. "Beats me. If it was a SAM then it's either very new stuff or someone's been funnelling weapons to them from our world."

"I'd rather the former," admitted the captain. Task Force 141 had a massive arsenal provided from mage contacts in the Old World and secretly transferred through Megalosembrian gateports. The logistics was enormous, consisting of everything from spare uniforms, medical kits and MREs, to small arms, light armour and gunships; the largest of which was a specially prepared AC-130.

Crouching down slightly to Theodora's level he asked, "We're going for a walk tonight. It's going to be dangerous and there will be people who'll try to hurt us. Your safety is our biggest concern right now. Like Gaz said, this will potentially save your life." He held up the vest.

"It looks ugly, I don't like it," she pouted.

But Soap was made of sterner stuff. "Is it because everyone at home wears the latest fashions and stuff like that?"

She shook her head. Soap noticed she was still in the court robes she wore just before she was kidnapped by the Ultranationalists.

"Well it seems your captors decided not to change your clothes. No wonder why you need a bath."

That earned him a slap, immediately his vision went red around the edges before it gradually faded.

"Take that back you plebeian," she ordered.

Soap rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'm sorry your highness." Both of them knew it was the truth though. After a pause he continued, "Ok why don't you want to wear it?"

This time Theodora looked away. "I'm… I think it will prevent…well… stunt my growth."

He rubbed his chin in contemplation. "What?" After a few seconds he realised to his utmost horror what she meant.

"_How am I, a member of the most elite special operations unit in Mundus Vetus and Mundus Magicus supposed to explain the wonders and mysteries of puberty to a girl? Especially a Hellian_?"

"Right… Well, if you're afraid the vest will prevent you from…" He gestured with his hands in front of his chest. "You'll only need to wear it for tonight, as soon as we finish our walk you can take it off."

Theodora who listened attentively went thoughtful for a moment. "Well I do wear a training bra."

To Soap that was like having a stun grenade shoved in one ear with its pin pulled out the other. "_I really didn't need to know that your highness_."

"But…" she put her finger in her mouth as she pondered the dilemma.

Soap's head snapped about as he heard the distant whir of airships and the rumble of approaching trucks.

"Nah, can we go please? This place is scary."

Soap snatched her up and carried her over to his waiting colleagues. "Good enough for me."

"Geez, you took forever and you didn't even get her to put on the vest," complained Gaz.

"Shut up, all you would have done is start a fight," retorted Soap, putting down Theodora.

"Enough, time's wasting. Soap, protect her with your body," said Price who started to lead the way.

The four of them set off, running through a ditch where there was a bridge twenty metres away. As they came closer the noise of vehicles on the road could be heard growing louder.

"Sir, vehicles coming from the north," reported Hazard, getting up from his concealed OP (Observation Post) where he was covering the road.

"Get under that bridge, move it," commanded the captain.

"Ugh, I'm not stepping in that." Theodora shook her head emphatically at the strip of muddy water which ran under the bridge. "Soap!" she and Price called out at the same time.

Gaz gave him a smile and said, "Whose orders are you following? The captain's or her highness's?"

"Shut up." Soap lifted Theodora so she was perched on one arm again.

As he did so the earpieces of all the commandos sounded, "Bravo Six, this is Baseplate. AC-130 gunship support is on the way, but it will take some time before they will be in a position to assist, over."

"Copy, Bravo Six, out," replied Price.

"An AC-130, eh? Haven't worked with one of those in a while." Gaz sounded excited, almost in a boyish way.

Once they were all under, they waited holding their breath. Soap winced as he shifted Theodora's weight to his other arm.

Once they were all across, Price said, "Alright, let's move."

They followed him to the back of a garage before he said, "Hold up, we've got company."

Silently he prised open the door and entered, followed closely by Gaz. Hazard remained outside, covering their six. As Soap entered he felt a hand clamp onto his own, not the one holding the gun fortunately.

"Stay close," he whispered to Theodora.

While Price kept watch at the garage door, Gaz made eye contact with Soap and pointed up. Looking left there was a set of steps to the attic.

"Ok we should be safe up there, quickly now."

As he and the girl went up, Price frowned as he watched the farmer exit his house just opposite the garage door. Into the yard strolled a squad of Hellain Ultranationalist rebels, decked out like the Hellian Army which resembled medieval knights. Short sharp pointed staffs were slung over their backs. Their affiliation was clear from their shoulder patches, consisting of a black five-pointed star. Price counted four. Up above, Soap lay on his stomach at the edge, looking down upon the scene. There was an extra man leaning against a corner away from the rest.

"This place is a dump," laughed the lead man as he approached the nervous elderly farmer.

"What's going on here? What do you want?"

"Do not pretend to be a fool. We know that you have them somewhere hiding." The Ultranationalist leaned in threateningly.

The old man scratched his head before answering, "Hiding? Who?"

"Are you harbouring foreign troops here?"

The farmer thought he was going deaf. "Foreign?"

Impatiently rolling his eyes, the rebel reached for his staff. "You're wasting my time."

Inside Price calmly said, "Alright, let's top these bastards before they can top the old man. Soap you've got the best angle so take the leader. Gaz, the one on the left of him. I'll get the two on the right. Hazard, everything fine back there?"

"All's quiet this end."

"Alright, wait until Soap fires."

Turning his head, Soap whispered to Theodora, "Ok, stay there in the far corner and don't move until I tell you. If you want you can cover your ears."

Just as the leader of the group held his staff to the petrified farmer's head and opened his mouth Soap took aim through the reflex sight on his CAR-15 carbine and squeezed off a single high velocity 5.56x45mm NATO round which made at least a thousand revolutions through the air before reaching the target. Combat helmets of the non-magical world were mainly designed to protect against shrapnel and blunt force trauma. In the magical world, helmets in addition to the capabilities of their non-magical counterparts were imbued with the ability to resist magical attacks. Levels of protection depended on the manufacturer, the spell used to enchant it and the spell it is opposing. As kinetic impact weaponry was fairly uncommon in Mundus Magicus, there aren't many countermeasures against extreme high velocity projectiles since only highly trained mages can duplicate such a feat.

The farmer cried out in shock as the man's brains spurted out one side of his head in a macabre fountain of red and white. As the dead man's comrades reached for their weapons Gaz and Price opened fire too, gunning down the other men with precise hits to the upper torso. The last man behind the corner managed to draw his staff and point. Soap hit him twice in the heart in rapid succession. As he flailed and started to fall he got another through the face.

After a few seconds Gaz declared breathlessly, "Area clear."

"Alright, let's keep moving."

Price opened the door and exited; dropping to a crouch and covering the right of the yard as well as the doorway where the farmer had disappeared as soon as the gunfire started. Gaz came out and covered the left side.

"Come on, let's go," said Soap to Theodora who was still huddled in the corner.

She held out her arms, as though wishing for a hug.

"Ok, alright… if that's how you want it."

The five of them mounted the fence to the next field which had a knee high covering of grass. Everyone's hearts froze when they heard the whir of an approaching airship.

"Spotlight, hit the deck."

Everyone complied. The princess muttered something unbefitting of her station as she lay facedown in the dirt. Soap resisted the temptation to look up as a small airship, shaped like a bumblebee hovered over the field, sweeping a spotlight over the grass.

"Stay down… Stay… Down." The noise of the airship gradually diminished. "The airship's moving away, let's go."

As they sprinted towards the barnyard at the far end of the field they heard someone shout an incantation.

"Contact eight o'clock!" shouted Gaz, turning around and returning fire with his FAMAS G1 rifle, Price and Hazard did likewise with their CAR-15 carbine and MP5 submachine gun respectively.

A fireball erupted over Soap's head as he pulled Theodora behind a stone wall.

"Stay down," he instructed before standing and firing at the enemy rushing up along the road parallel to the field.

"Gaz! We'll hold them off! Get that barnyard door open now!" shouted Price.

"I'm on it!"

The airship returned, its searchlight settling on the defenders around the barn. It lowered altitude and then a glowing circle appeared on its underside and the ground it was immediately hovering above.

"Teleporting troops incoming!" Price called out, ducking as a lightning spell narrowly missed his head.

"Watch out for that airship!" warned Hazard as the guns on the airship began firing a a salvo of light arrows.

The captain took aim and shot one of the soldiers who had just teleported to the ground. After the third the pilot of the airship had wised up and moved so the teleportation circle was behind cover.

Just then an ice bolt came hurtling towards Soap who was in the middle of throwing a grenade. Out the corner of his eye he saw it approaching and twisted so that his magically enhanced Kevlar would take the brunt of the hit. It didn't as a barrier of fire was erected just a foot away.

"Thanks Theodora." He smiled gratefully at the girl who was peeking just over the wall where she was hiding.

"The door's open, sir!" called Gaz.

"Get in! Go! Go!"

Everyone sprinted inside and took position at all the openings except for Theodora who was told by Soap to hide behind some crates.

"Captain Price! We've got Stinger missiles here!" Gaz pointed to the tubular weapons which were inside long wooden crates with straw packaging.

"Soap! Grab a Stinger and take out that airship! Move!" Price commanded as he fired against the oncoming enemy from the entrance.

Soap lifted out a single FIM-92 Stinger anti-aircraft missile and took aim at the airship which was visible at the far end of the field from the entrance.

"Back blast!" he warned.

Hazard hurriedly got out of the way. Soap took aim and waited until the warbling tone confirmed a lock.

"Firing!"

With a whoosh the missile left the launcher and sped through the barn entrance, racing for the airship. Suddenly it increased altitude as it attempted to evade while a spellcaster aboard cast several flare spells.

"Bloody hell, he's popping flares! How the hell did they know what to do? This won't be easy! Soap, grab another Stinger and fire again! Let's put him to the test!" said Gaz.

"I'll have to go outside as it comes around for another pass" replied Soap, taking another.

"We'll cover you from here," said Price, beckoning Hazard over. "We'll pop smoke. On three… two… one."

Price and Hazard each threw two smoke grenades as far down the field as possible to shield Soap as he rushed out with the Stinger pointed skywards. Gaz meanwhile concentrated on killing the rest of the enemies between the barn and the smokescreen. Finding his target right above him he waited impatiently for the tone and fired again. The missile flew straight up and gutted the airship, sending it spiralling away in flames.

"Bloody nice shooting there Soap!" congratulated the 2iC.

"Good work Soap. Everyone on me! Let's move out!" Price went over to the back door as he said this.

"What did you do?" asked Theodora as Soap helped her out of her hiding place.

"I shot down the airship that's what," he answered with a grin.

Meanwhile Price, Gaz and Hazard were in the middle of a serious discussion.

"Stingers, that's our sort of equipment," stated Hazard, "One of those could have shot us down."

"Which means either a supplier outside or a traitor inside," said Gaz.

"Or it could be someone pilfering our equipment," added Price, "We'll worry about this later. Let's go."

The five of them left the barn and reached the edged of the main road. Price waved everyone off to the side where there was plenty of grass coverage. For good reason too. Down the road came a convoy of trucks and APCs but they were not like their earthly counterparts. The armoured vehicles were ornate and decorative but brimmed with sharp spell casting weaponry, intimidation was clearly in mind as well.

"Bravo Six, be advised, that AC-130 is entering your airspace at this time. Out," said Baseplate over the radio.

Next the Fire Control Officer aboard the aforementioned gunship could be heard. "Bravo Six, this is Warhammer standing by. Heard you could use some help down there. Call the shot."

"Warhammer, fire mission, danger close. Enemy armour and infantry. 100 metres to the southwest of our location. Over," Price responded, pressing a finger to his earpiece.

"Copy. Coming down."

Soap poked Theodora and pointed up at the sky.

"Up there we've got a plane which will wipe the floor with all these guys."

"Really?" She strained her neck, trying to see if she could pin point the plane in the night sky. Soap had to pull her down, lest she reveal their position.

"Don't be daft. You can't actually see them, if we can so can the enemy. But they can see us and the enemy very clearly. Watch and maybe cover your ears."

Looking back at the convoy which was disgorging more Ultranationalist troops, they waited. Suddenly the middle of the convoy erupted in a massive explosion, flipping the vehicles and lifting the men into the air. This was followed almost a second later with a whoosh of air. The lone surviving truck at the back started reversing but almost immediately there were two smaller but still reasonably large explosions which swallowed it up. The remaining soldiers who were scattering were suddenly torn to pieces as a thunderous roar and a near solid line of purple energy rent the sky.

Turning away from the carnage on the ground, the princess looked up to see where the stream of magical gunfire was coming from. To her disappointment the AC-130M (Magic Spectre) gunship still wasn't visible.

"That is bloody outrageous mate!" cheered Gaz, doing a little celebratory jig.

"Bravo Six, we'll cover you this extraction zone."

Roger that, Warhammer. Thanks for the assist. We're setting up a perimeter now. Out," replied Price before saying to the squad, "What are you waiting for! Get to it! Except for you Soap."

By then Theodora was beginning to nod off so Soap had to rock her to sleep while Gaz, Price and Hazard laid out several IR beacons, marking out the extraction zone. Ten minutes later two well armed and armoured MH-53 Pave Low helicopter arrived to retrieve the team under the protective vigil of the AC-130M. The one carrying the team headed straight for friendly airspace while the other carried a fully armed fireteam of TF141 commandos to the Black Hawk crash site for a cleanup.

In the chopper Soap cradled Theodora who was asleep in his lap again. Hazard too was snoring, taking up several seats by himself. Meanwhile Price and Gaz had gone back to watching the news on Gaz's laptop again.

Soap looked down at the slumbering princess and smiled before looking out the window. High above the clouds the sun was just beginning to rise, casting the sky in a gold and pink hue.

He was about to invite his colleagues to join him when he heard Gaz speak,"Megalosembrians aren't having any luck getting Al-Asad. Their marines pushed into Carbacz but are stalled in heavy fighting."

Price shook his head and looked up. "There's something worse out there. How are the Ultranationalists getting their hands on Stingers? The Hellain Civil war and Al-Asad's Revolution are too closely linked. I have a feeling we'll know soon enough."


	9. More Revalations

After a second Gary allowed his feet to hit the ice wall, the spiked crampons biting deep into the ice to stop him from falling further. Straining his eyes he saw the panel fifteen metres down. Another leap sent him eleven metres closer.

"Oh…my…did he just?" Yue leaned over the railing. "Now you're just showing off!"

Nodoka's complexion meanwhile almost matched that of the snow and she had to sit down before asking, "What is he doing?"

"Doing his own impersonation of Mission Impossible," replied her friend.

As they spoke, Gary carefully walked down the ice cliff face down.

"Ok so what do I do now? And stop staring at my arse Haruna."

The girl almost dropped the heartbeat sensor. "What! How do you know?"

"Your laser rangefinder's been warming my left cheek for a while now," he said as he opened the panel.

Ten frustrating minutes later Gary flicked the switch inside and shut the panel. The vent stopped humming and then its flaps started to close.

"Sounds like that did the trick," said Yue, "Come back up carefully."

'Rodger." Gary twisted around so he was face up and started to climb.

All of a sudden there was a roar that echoed across the whole underground caver. The snow shook but an avalanche was fortunately averted. What did come loose were a few washers on the safety rail which started to bend. Already fatigued from the cold, the metal snapped and the carabiner connecting the cord to Gary slipped off. Nodoka ran up and dragged her friend away from the platform edge.

With a cry, Gary plummeted face down fifteen metres past the panel and vent before hitting the snowy slope. Fortunately he came away with a few bruises but that was the beginning of his ride.

"Dammit!" Haruna whipped on the scope and tracked his progress.

Looking down he could see tree trunks all the way down the slope. Drawing his ice axes from his hip he dug them into the ground but it was a useless gesture as it only dug up soft snow. A coniferous pine drew up so he twisted his body left to avoid it.

"Gary! The slope will level out. Just avoid those trees," Haruna shouted into the walkie-talkie.

"Oh shit…" he murmured as he hurtled past a few more tree trunks and smashed through a thorny bush, getting cuts all over his face.

Up on the platform, Nodoka and Yue watched, covering their mouths as Gary traced out a path in the snow.

"Can he ever get back up?" asked the former, wondering if she should call Negi.

"There's probably an emergency exit down below, just like last time," answered her friend.

Eventually the gradient of the slope became gentler but the boy was still hurtling along at a dangerous speed. Looking ahead past the trees, Gary's eyes widened as he saw the obstacle in front. No dodging this time. He braced for impact by curling into a ball.

As she heard the crash over the radio, Haruna winced. She listened closely for a second before tentatively asking, "Gary-kun? Are you ok?"

For a moment there was no answer save for a few thumps. To her relief there was a moan in answer. "Why did it have to be books?"

Yue heard this over the radio too. "I guess this proves that books can save your life."

Gary staggered to his feet, extricating himself from the remains of the bookshelf into which he'd crashed before dusting off some snow and looking back up the slope. "That wasn't funny."

"Sorry, can you get back up here?" replied Yue.

"Nah doesn't look like it. I'll find another way around. Let Negi-sensei know. There's nothing you can do here." He turned and set off in the opposite direction.

"Will do, good luck," answered Yue.

"Be careful down there and look out for any traps," warned Nodoka.

"And watch out for the dragon, I think that was what caused the roar earlier," said Haruna, "Come on we! We need to find Negi-sensei now!"

"Dragon. Pfft. This is no video game." Gary shook his head as he walked through a path between the trees. Unlike the pines he'd dodged earlier all these bare and spindly, almost resembling fingers, reaching out for him.

"Nothing here to be afraid of," he muttered to himself.

A chunk of snow fell from a branch, causing him to spin around. He swore he heard voices, calling out in a foreign language. After a moment there was nothing so he shrugged and continued. Up ahead there was an intersection. As he neared it he swore he could see figures in white camouflage standing guard nearby. It turned out they were just splodges of snow against the tree trunks.

Standing in the middle of the crossroads he felt the wind pick up. Once again he heard something unusual. Almost like the barking of a dog or the rumble of an armoured vehicle.

_Convoy incoming, get out of sight. Let them pass_.

Instinctively he dived behind a tree. For a few breathless minutes Gary waited, but nothing happened. Feeling incredibly stupid he got up and walked back into the clear.

"Come on! Get a grip!" he berated himself as he went over to check the conveniently placed signpost on the intersection corner.

After a minute of consultation he made his way to the right which took him to...

"_Wait! Another mountain down here_?"

The path took him to a large ornate oak door in the mountainside. Gary frowned, looking up, down and to the sides, wondering if this was all a joke. Cautiously he approached and tapped on the wood. He thought he heard an echo on the other side. Thinking there might be a way out he leaned against the wood, keeping the path in his peripheral vision and hoping that the door won't open spontaneously. Not a sound from the other side. He gingerly tested the doorknob but as expected it was locked tight. Failing that he ran his hands around the edges, feeling the hinges which were surprisingly well maintained.

"_Ok, another way of forcing the door is to use a shotgun with breaching rounds. Rather like these."_

_The Royal Marine CQB instructor held up a shotgun. Unloaded of course. In his other hand he had several red-capped shotgun shells. _

"_Who's first?" _

_The then trainee Gary Sanderson put up his hand._

He almost kicked himself for missing the intercom buzzer on the doorframe. Looking about nervously he pressed the button and waited. The buzzer beeped for a few seconds before a red light above the button came on and a click was heard from the door. As he opened the door he heard something which shook the snow off the top of the doorframe.

Snapping his head around, Gary stared about the cavern behind him. In the distance he could see the hill from which he'd fallen. The girls were probably long gone. There was a distant rumbling, making him wonder if there was an avalanche approaching. Fixing his gaze upon the roots of the World Tree he saw something fly out from the forest canopy below.

For a moment he thought it was a bird before exclaiming, "What the F**k! A dragon?"

He stopped and stared for a moment as the airborne reptile flapped about. From where he was he couldn't make out many details except that it was probably very large and a dark gray colour. That was probably because of the snow he though.

_There is a dragon above the village. It just shot down our Predator. Soap, we need another Predator._

As it turned around to face him, Gary slipped behind the door and closed it. The tunnel beyond was well lit fortunately, oil lamps hung along the wall, interspersed with paintings and more bookshelves. The carpet on which he stood wasn't mouldy as expected. It smelt like someone had come in recently to clean it. Standing stock still and listening for any signs of life, ignoring the distant muffled roars of the dragon behind. He removed the crampons off his boots before going any further.

"Where to from here?" Gary asked himself aloud.

* * *

"Well that's all taken care of," said Simon, wiping his hands after handing back the golfing gear.

He went outside and to see Makie conversing with Yuna quietly. They looked up as he approached and the gymnast quickly whispered something to her friend before running off.

"See you guys later," she called back.

Simon waved before asking, "What's going on?"

"She's gone to go find Ako and Akira," answered Yuna.

"I guess I'd better go find Gary or Joe now, catch ya later," he said, setting off in the same direction as Makie before feeling a violent tug on his arm.

"Geez, what was that for?" he asked, getting to his feet after falling on his backside again.

"It's only three thirty now, do you wanna go someplace?" Yuna stood right in front of him, hands akimbo.

"What? Where? Didn't we just hang out this morning?" he looked a little confused.

"Why not?" Yuna rolled her eyes in frustration.

"You might call it my gut feeling or something like that but I feel like I should be out finding my friends." Simon realised how lame that sounded and Yuna didn't look convinced.

"What?"

"Some might call it duty as a superior off-."

Yuna silenced him with a raised hand. "Do you realise how weird that sounds?"

"Not particularly," he replied, dusting himself off.

The basketballer shook her head. "You're so clueless like my dad sometimes. You're friends will be fine I'm sure someone from our class is looking after them." She grabbed his arm again. "Speaking of which…"

But he merely looked confused and replied, "Oh come on? What do you want from me?"

Yuna scowled for a moment before leaning in close to him. Simon tried to step back as she reached over to his waist.

"The heck are you doing?"

Suddenly Yuna turned and ran off, holding up the Oakley shades he'd gotten earlier that afternoon.

"Oi! Give that back!" Simon shouted as he gave chase, crossing first over a bridge and then up a stairwell.

"You're not getting it that easily," she taunted back, flipping over one side of the stairs to land behind him before speeding off.

"Bollocks!" Changing direction midstride on the stairs almost made him trip over.

"Can't catch me!" Yuna slid down the railing of the last set. Simon had no choice but to follow.

As she slipped in between a group of older high school boys a few of them exclaimed, "Hey look it's the Kid! What are you running from?"

Simon saw them too as he turned a corner, trying to keep her in sight. Immediately he identified them as a potential obstacle as one of them pointed at him.

"Is this the guy you're trying to escape?" the largest of them said, taking his hands out of his pocket.

"You'll have to get through us first," said another.

"No it's alright," Yuna called back as she continued but the high schoolers didn't hear her.

_Don't let the militia pin you down for too long! Use your flashbangs on them!_

"I'll have to bypass them," muttered Simon as he drew closer, taking into account the size and numbers of the senior students in front.

"Stop right there," ordered the leader, holding up a hand.

As he did so Simon suddenly dodged right, jumping through an open window into an empty classroom right next to the path. Sliding over the joined desks he didn't dare drop momentum as he went for the door and bolted down the doorway parallel to the path outside. As he ran he heard a giggle and saw Yuna skip right by the open doorway at the end. He whipped around the corner, passing too close to Ayaka who cried out, spilling the contents of the watering can she was holding all over her blouse.

"Hey watch where you're going!" she shouted after Simon.

"Sorry!" he called back.

The class representative tut-tutted in disapproval and returned to watering the pot plant by the door.

* * *

Upstairs, Joesph, Kaede and the twins observed from a classroom balcony.

With a chuckle the tall girl noted, "Simon will undoubtedly get lost. This campus is simply too large to cover in one afternoon." She made a sweeping gesture towards the multitude of buildings before them.

"What haven't we seen yet?" Fuka asked her sister.

"We've covered the aerodrome, had lunch at Chao Bao Zi, gone shopping…" Joseph ticked them off on his fingers.

"Let's take him to see the Technical Department where Hakase-chan works," suggested Fumika.

Joesph was confused. "Hakase? Professor?"

"You heard right. She basically lives there. The building's huge, got labs and workshops in nearly every room," said Fuka.

"Let's be on our way," Kaede called up from down below.

Joseph's eyes nearly bugged when he saw where she'd gone. "What the-?"

"Ah that's normal," said Fuka, vaulting over the railing to follow her.

"Hey! You'll hurt yourself!" Joseph reached out to catch her but fortunately Kaede was spotting down below.

"Don't worry, they're good at this," said the ninja, putting down the elder twin.

"What's with these stunts you insist on performing?" he demanded to know.

"Kaede trained us," Fumika replied, deciding to take the safer path down a flight of stairs with Joseph following.

"Seems like parkour to me," he commented, opening the door and letting the girl go through first.

"Thanks, she normally goes out to train on the weekends up in the mountains." She pointed towards the outskirts of the school buildings.

"Lately I haven't been up there regularly, the upcoming tests have kept me back at school," said Kaede, walking up to them.

"Training? Whatever for?"

She grinned, beckoning for him to follow. "I'd like to tell you but that's a story for another day. Come on. Let's head to the Technical Department. De gozaru."

As the four of them walked over to their destination with the twins helpfully pointing out the occasional landmarks for their guest.

His ankles a little sore, Joseph asked, "Is this the long way there?"

"Yes it is, we are the Walking Club after all," said Fuka.

"If we wanted to take a shortcut, well… let's say you won't be able to catch up with any of us," said her sister.

They passed in front of the dorms where they saw Yuna making a call and looking up at one of the windows.

"Come on, come on… pick up," she muttered, holding Simon's sunglasses in hand.

"Yuna-chan? What's going on?" asked Makie on the other end.

"I've got something I need to hide from Simon-kun, come to the window and pick it up."

She heard footsteps on the other end and the scrape of a wardrobe opening before she looked up to see the gymnast at the window.

"What is it?" Makie asked, dangling her practise ribbon out the window.

Yuna held up the sunglasses. With a flick of the wrist Makie had snatched them up.

"Why do you need to hide them?" she asked, putting them.

"No reason." Yuna blushed a little under her friend's raised eyebrow before continuing, "Other than to annoy him. By the way you look cool in those!"

Then she dashed off as soon as she heard the pound of footsteps from around the corner she'd come earlier. Barely a moment later Simon staggered around the corner, panting hard. Noticing his quarry ahead he started jogging before breaking out into a sprint. Strangely enough the intervals between those bursts of speed were always consistent, that was same with the length of time he could sprint. His PE teachers in the past took note of this regularity. From her vantage point, Makie giggled, taking off the glasses before anyone else noticed.

"He must be really angry with her," noted Joseph, who didn't hear the exchange between the girls.

"Must have pranked him or something like that," suggested Fuka, "Sometimes she helps us out."

"Or maybe he's hopelessly in love with her," said Fumika.

It took a little while for that to sink in for the only boy there as the females all immediately began gossiping.

"_I wonder how Gary's doing_?" he thought.

* * *

Meanwhile Gary had found his prize. A book of course, in an unsurprisingly insecure location. Looking around he couldn't see any visible security measures. The room he was in branched off the main corridor he was traversing, the only room with an unlocked door so far. Turning back he saw for some reason it was glowing gold. Frowning, he regarded the item for a while before carefully wedging it out halfway. Relieved that he wasn't burned, electrocuted or worse, given a paper cut he pulled it out completely. As he did so, he heard a whistling noise and quickly brought tucked his right arm back towards his body as a dart grazed his forearm.

"F**k!" he dropped the book, inspecting the cut through his jacket before taking it off and rolling up his sleeve.

The dart had given him a deep gash along the length of his right forearm. Realising he'd need stitches he searched himself for the medical kit each Library club member was given for such expeditions.

"Shit, where is it?"

The aforementioned kit was lying on back on the hill he'd slid on earlier. By the time he'd realised, the blood was flowing freely. He needed to stop the bleeding but he didn't have a belt to use as a tourniquet and he couldn't wrap his clothes around the wound as the room and corridor were unhelpfully cold. Looking about quickly he ran over to a desk in the room and pulled open its drawers. Nothing except for stationary. Almost under autopilot, he reached for a stapler and gluestick. He also noticed the reel of carbon paper tape, used to print library receipts.

Gary quickly checked if the stapler was loaded before gritting his teeth and applying them to the cut. Approximately thirteen were used to partially seal the wound. His cries of pain with each echoed throughout the corridor. Once he was done he unwound the tape and applied a little glue to the end, sticking it where the cut started closest to his wrist. Carefully he bandaged himself; blinking occasionally to clear the red out of his vision. Once he was done he applied the glue to the other end of the tape so it stuck securely. Carefully he pulled on his jacket, picked up the book and wrenched out the dart which had caused him so much pain before continuing on.

* * *

"Looks like you're in a hurry," Asuna commented as the Library trio ran up to her, Negi, Konoka and Chamo.

"What's wrong?" Negi asked his students, waiting patiently for them to catch their breath.

"Gary-kun… fell… in the library," panted Yue.

"We think the dragon may be loose in there as well," said Haruna.

"What? You led him into the deepest parts of Library Island?"

An expression of anger appeared on the young teacher's face before it disappeared almost as quickly as it came. Unfortunately this didn't go unnoticed by Nodoka, whose eyes began to tremble.

"I'm so sorry Negi-sensei!" she managed to choke out, almost throwing herself prostrate before the equally distressed boy.

Immediately he, Yue and Konoka were at her side, lifting her back on her feet.

"_Be tough on the problem, not the person_," thought Negi as he chose his next words carefully.

"Nodoka-san, it's alright. You did the right thing by coming here straight away. You should have told me earlier but we'll talk about the issue of the library later," he reassured, hopping on his staff.

Just as he started accelerating he felt a hand yank the back of his hoodie before he tumbled backwards onto the ground.

"We're not supposed to let Gary or any of the others know about magic just yet," said Asuna unapologetically.

"Well you can at least allow Negi-kun to get there with magic first, no use turning up to find Gary already eaten by the dragon," offered Konoka.

"I suppose so…" Asuna looked around to make sure no one else was watching, particularly Simon and Joseph while Negi mounted his staff again.

"By the way, where did you take him?" he asked.

"Sub level 6-C," answered Yue.

"You do realise that you could have used your pactio cards to alert him?" said Chamo.

"Huh? Ohhhh, why didn't we think of that?" exclaimed Haruna.

The ermine clucked his tongue. "Well, if we're going on some adventure to go find Aniki's dad, you've got to use everything at your disposal."

Just then an expression appeared on Chamo's face, reserved for when he was thinking laterally, strategising or when he thought of something perverted. Usually it was at least two of these.

"If only Aniki had a pactio with Gary, he could have telepathically communicated this incident-"

He was cut off by a disgusted cry from Asuna who proceeded kick him up into a tree. Negi's face fell while Nodoka and Yue both had expressions of deep mortification on their faces, unlike Haruna who openly relished the implications. Konoka giggled at the idea but it was difficult to tell if it was approval or if she took it as a joke.

"Why didn't I think of that earlier too?" laughed the mangaka, pulling out her non-artefact sketchbook and writing a new title which will remain unmentioned. "I should have something done by tomorrow morning."

"Ok!" Negi attempted to regain control of the situation while ignoring what he heard. "Let's go. Maybe Alberio-san can help us if he's home."

* * *

"And here we are," announced Fuka as the Walking Club and Joseph stopped in front of the multi-storied main building of the Technical Department complex.

"As you can see its design is far more modern than the rest of the campus architecture," said Fumika.

"That's because they've demolished it a few times back in the seventies and eighties or more like spontaneously energetically disassembled," chuckled Kaede.

"Which is why the latest building is built like a rock," Fuka went on.

As they neared the entrance, Joseph could see they were right. Stainless steel window frames, Plexiglas windows and reinforced concrete just about everywhere. In an effort to make the place less dull, the Art Club painted over the building exterior. Unfortunately that was years ago and the paint had already flaked or washed off in many places, leaving the ugly beige concrete mostly exposed. For some reason one side of the building looked like it was completely scorched all the way up to the third story.

Fuka answered before he could ask, "It wasn't us. It was Satomi and Chachamaru's fault."

"However did they do that?"

"Well, rumour has it that they were having a fight of some sort, or at least Chachamaru was really angry with her creator so she briefly went terminator. It was there that they tried to capture her and there was a brief struggle and so yeah…" Kaede understated.

Confused he continued on, "Creator? What was she carrying? Napalm?"

Kaede thought about it for a little while, "Knowing Hakase-dono… Yeah I think she's equipped Chachamaru with napalm, among many other things. And yes, she did help create Chachamaru."

"What the hell? Is she even a person?"

"You'll have to see for yourself," said Fumika.

After several security checks in the lobby they were each given visitor passes and instructed to follow the green line marked on the floor to find Satomi's department. The physical security was understandable including the confiscation of mobile phones and any potentially compromising devices like flash drives, phones and MP3s. What Joseph couldn't get was that someone was still busy this time of the week and a 15 year old schoolgirl no less. That was at least his impression of her during the introduction on Friday.

Since it was the weekend they didn't run into anyone save for a few staff members. Satomi was in charge of an entire floor or department. Her office which was just opposite the lift and they could see the light shining under the door.

"Hello? Anyone home?" asked Fuka, before slowly pulling the door open to reveal it was empty. In the corner was a cot where the scientist often slept.

At that moment they heard a terrible noise reverberate across the hallway, like a gigantic Velcro strip being pulled apart. Covering their ears the four of them staggered over to the main laboratory at the far end of the corridor. Fumika pushed the door open with her elbow, still trying to block out the noise.

"Oh hey there!" greeted Satomi, switching off a large, heavy electronic device she was tinkering with.

The sound dissipated immediately and everyone took their hands off their ears except for the young scientist who removed her earplugs.

"Afternoon Hakase-dono, we were showing him around the school as a new club member, de gozaru," said Kaede.

Satomi gave the boy a once over as he bowed. "Oh yeah, you're one of the boys new to the class. Welcome to my lab, or rather it's my main lab." She moved away, beckoning for them to follow as she continued to speak, "I've also got to manage a few other people on this floor but now that Chao-san has left I've had to take on some of her responsibilities. She could do the work of five, did you know?"

An alarm above a Plexiglas covered cabinet started beeping. The scientist ran over to it, lifted up its cover and reached in to retrieve a small black mouse.

"Some of her disciplines like biological research aren't exactly my forte admittedly," she said, putting the animal inside its cage.

Joseph tripped over what appeared to be a robotic arm similar to those used in car factories. The twins helped him to his feet.

"It seems a little more crowded in here than usual," noted Kaede, jumping effortlessly over a lathe.

Joseph didn't know if his surprise was because of this feat or that the lathe held what looked like a human thigh.

"I was about to do some cleaning before the holidays," answered Satomi, gesturing to the mounds of papers and electronic devices piled on the tables.

"What's this?" Fuka pointed to a set of blueprints set displayed from a projector on the only square of blank wall that wasn't covered by a poster or whiteboard.

"It's a cloud chamber, supposed to rival the size of the old 'One Million Litre Test Sphere' at Fort Detrick," answered the scientist, pointing through the shuttered windows.

Outside they could see a large circular pit nearly a hundred metres across, surrounded with cranes, scaffolding and fencing. Inside they could see the top of what appeared to be a giant steel sphere.

In awe, Fumika asked, "What's it for?"

"Aerobiology, the study of how microorganisms, small insects, pollen and spores are transported by air. It's got an inch thick steel alloy hull so nothing can escape and since it's mostly underground that's even better. Chao funded its construction and insurance to cover just about all aspects of its use for the next hundred years."

"Why all the hassle?" Fuka wondered aloud, standing on tip-toe to see like her sister.

"Computer modelling only helps so much. We need actual hard evidence in our research. I believe Hashimoto-san from upstairs needs the sphere for one of his dissertations about aerosols," answered Satomi, drawing back the curtain around a raised platform in the centre of the lab.

Reclining on what appeared to be a dentist's chair, sat Chachamaru. The android appeared to be in a deep sleep with several wires running from plugs attached to various ports over her body. Her entire torso covering was removed, revealing a tangle of wires, cogs and microcircuitry where the organs should be. A workstation nearby was connected to the wires which ran from the ports and her open abdomen.

Awestruck, Joseph stuttered, "Isn't that… one of the girls from the class?"

"Yes, that's Chachamaru," said Kaede before asking, "Running diagnostics are we? I didn't think it would take an entire day."

Satomi nodded. "Well in addition to the usual check-up, I've also begun to install some new software."

She gestured to the eviscerated robot. "I know she looks hopelessly over-engineered but Chao and I prefer to do everything from scratch. That's why where we've got fifteen integrated circuits for example where we could have requested one from Hitachi or IBM which could handle the same workload." She didn't mention the fact that magic from Chao and Evangeline played one of the most significant roles.

"So Chachamaru's a robot?" Joseph pretended to understand what Satomi was talking about, along with Kaede.

"Well, she prefers the term gynoid," said Satomi, she works mainly for Evangeline-san. "I do maintenance on her if she's damaged, experiences firmware or software errors or if she needs upgrades; her doctor if another sense."

Joseph stepped up to the platform, scrutinising the rest of Chachamaru before complimenting, "Well she's awfully lifelike, except for the ears and the joints."

"We're still ironing out the issues of appearance but other than that everyone's okay with her. She's also got a bit of a crush on Negi-sensei."

The monitor suddenly beeped, registering a sudden heat spike. The scientist rushed over and tapped in a few commands, noting that the gynoid was still aware of her surroundings despite being in a semi-hibernation state.

"Oh and she can express emotions too," whispered Kaede to Joseph, "But don't ask Satomi about it, I heard that she ranted for a three minutes straight about the possibility of Chachamaru expressing love."

"Alright… at least I know what not to say if I don't want my brain to melt," he thanked her.

"Satomi-san, what are you upgrading her with?" asked Fumika.

"Uhh." She checked the computer. "An experimental software package called a Situational Awareness Tactical Display, also known as the Cross-Com 0.9, courtesy of the US Army Soldier Systems Centre at Natick, Massachusetts."

"The soldier of the future is an F-16 on legs," Joseph almost said automatically.

"Yeah… that's what they told me last year when when I went there," said Satomi, giving him a confused glance.

"But I thought you normally don't use other people's inventions," said Kaede.

At this the scientist looked a little shamefaced. "Well… sometimes we do need to outsource for some of the more dangerous or complicated components. Although we make modifications to suit our purposes."

"So what's she got?"

Satomi counted off on her fingers, "Retractable rocket fists, laser emitters in the eyes, leg mounted rocket thrusters, neural interface to access computers and networks, electronic warfare modules, martial arts programming, an active electronically scanned array as well as all the necessary domestic skills for working with Evangeline-san. I'm also working on a combat suite which consists of guns, missiles, countermeasures and less-than-lethal warfare modules."

Joseph whistled, "That's more like an F-35 on legs."

"Like I said earlier some of the components originated from various contractors like the electronic jammers are based on the AN/ALQ-99 pod from EDO Corporation and the J/APG-1 from Mitsubishi from which we derived the AES array."

"Ok… Ever had problems with her before?"

Satomi though about it. "Well once I tried giving her a microwave emitter from EADS. It's a less-than-lethal weapon which causes the sensation of being burned alive. Chachamaru rejected it. The driver wouldn't install properly. I though it was probably due to her personality and this was confirmed when she voiced her disapproval of such an arguably cruel weapon."

* * *

At Library Island, Negi, Asuna, Konoka, Chamo and the Library trio made for the service elevator at the back. Unlike last time it held their combined weight and speedily took them down to sub level 6-C.

"We're below sea level so I hope you don't drink anything fizzy down there," joked Konoka to Yue, "When you rise the bubbles will form, you wouldn't want your stomach contents to fizz."

"That's not funny," retorted Yue, remembering her vomiting fit after sculling an entire can of unusually flat lychee-passionfruit soda in one of the library's lower levels and returning to the surface.

That effectively ended all opportunity for conversation in the lift.

* * *

Outside, Simon had run himself flat and staggered back to the dorms, still following Yuna who stopped and tapped against a door before whispering to the occupants.

Up the stairs came Simon. "Alright… hand it over," he demanded, catching up with her.

"Haven't got it," she smirked, holding up her empty hands.

He rolled his eyes and took a step closer. "Look, I'm thoroughly knackered and I haven't time to play games."

Yuna thought the accent was cute. "Ok, you want to search me?"

For a moment she saw something going on in his eyes, particularly the bloodshot one which went a little redder.

"Forget it. I'll be called a pervert if someone sees that happening," he shot back.

"Oh so you won't hesitate to do what's necessary if no one else is around?" she asked suggestively.

"What!"

Yuna tapped the door and kicked him in the ankle, causing him to topple forward. Right on cue the door opened behind her so she fell back too.

Simon glanced up when he heard the flash of the camera.

"Well, look what we've got here," chuckled Ako. Behind her stood Makie and Akira with their hands over their mouths.

"Oh… shit…." He muttered when he realised the trap had been sprung.

"So Simon," said Yuna, helping pull him up. "I reckon we should spend some more time hanging out. It was great today wasn't it?"

He tried but he just couldn't get angry with the girl in front of him. "I guess it was, Yuna-san."

"Well then, how about we hang out again next week? Once the exams are over next Friday? Then you'll have to call me Yuna-chan instead. Oh and they'll keep their mouths closed too."

"Deal."

Akira then tossed Simon's sunglasses back to him.


	10. Library Contingency

The Library trio led Negi and his friends over to the entrance of the valley where they last saw Gary. Beside the door there was a laminated map stuck on a corkboard next to dozens of post-it notes and other assorted documents.

"Before we go in we'll have to go straight to the bottom of the slope." Haruna jabbed the spot on the map where they'd seen Gary last. "Negi-kun, you'd probably want to take the long way around so that Gary doesn't see you riding your staff."

"Got it." Negi scrutinised the map along with the girls. "I can't take him back up with magic though so we'll take this exit here." He pointed to a small doorway in the mountainside. "I'll walk him out of there. Hopefully the dragon won't be out and about."

When he asked for volunteers to go down with him everyone put up their hands.

"Uhh, okay. The staff will only support four, including me." Negi hesitated as he looked each girl in the face. Asuna and Yue's determined expression, the endearing countenance of Nodoka and Konoka. Someone was going to be left behind.

Unable to pick, he shrugged and started to open the door. Maybe someone's mind will change when they see the task ahead. He himself was a little apprehensive. The last time he'd been this deep inside the Library he and the Baka Rangers had been stranded for about 48 hours. He certainly hoped they wouldn't get lost again, especially with another test next Friday.

"By the way, it's freezing out there," warned Yue, "It'll be a while before things will warm up."

Negi then realised that he, Chamo, Asuna and Konoka didn't have jackets like the Library trio. He could cast an insulating spell over himself and Konoka to protect against the cold. Chamo had his winter coat on but Asuna's anti-magic protection meant he couldn't do the same for her. Then again, he needed her combat prowess in case things got ugly down there.

The door swung open. Instead of a freezing gust of wind, the group felt a pleasantly warm breeze pass over them. The problem was that they were staring right in the face of the dragon. Up close they could see the light covering of powdery snow on its scales, dulling its usual glossy black. Being cold blooded as well, the only spot where it was warm on the giant reptile was around its snout which was glistening with moisture. Snorts of steam escaped from its nostril while its lips quivered open to reveal its foot long incisors.

Everyone froze, including the dragon. As quietly as possible, Negi muttered out the side of his mouth and the door swung shut before it locked itself securely.

"Plan B anyone?" asked Asuna.

"It didn't eat Gary did it?" Nodoka's hair stood on end, not taking her eyes off the door.

"I didn't see any blood on its teeth so hopefully not," answered Yue, calmly poking a straw into a juice box. Down here, no carbonated drinks of course.

Everyone clustered around the map again.

"Ok… worst case. Gary got eaten," said Negi, "This entrance is blocked off. Now then…"

They studied all the other possible entrances.

"I'm sure Gary has the smarts to head for safety as soon as the dragon made its appearance," he continued. "So I'm betting he made it here." He pointed to the same entrance he had originally planned to escort Gary to. "It is the closest after all."

"Where does it lead?" asked Konoka.

They followed the tunnel denoted on the map which went off the page. A strip of paper was attached to the side which stretch along the corkboard for thirty centimetres before it terminated, attached to an A4 page. Illustrated on the strip was a network of lines which branched off each other and randomly terminated. Most of them however led to central node on the page.

"Whoever did this seriously cannot draw," commented Haruna.

"Is this the person?" Asuna tapped the corner of the page which was signed Colonel Sanders.

"Well then it must lead to Alberio-san's quarters," concluded Negi, before rushing off. "Come on! We can get there through the main entrance!"

* * *

In the meantime Alberio had his own problem to deal with. For some reason there was a security breach at one of the tunnel entrances which led to his residence. Normally when someone requested entry from anywhere other than the main entrance, he had to approve it over the intercom. For some reason someone had opened it without his authorisation.

The librarian tapped a few keys on a security workstation before he walked all the way around to the other side of his residence. He opened a panel in the wall and studied the interior. Everything inside looked untouched; all the wires were neatly bundled together as they should be. He frowned when he noticed the wires which controlled Door 4 had evidence of tampering. Each wire in the pair had small section of insulation stripped off. That exposed the copper cores, meaning that someone must have run an electronic bypass.

Alberio sighed, making a note to ask the Technical Department to replace the wiring with fibre optics. It was impossible for an intruder to enter his domain however. Nevertheless he went about, using his magic to lift up all possible sources of cover. The effort proved fruitless however as any intruder would have been found, either lifted up by Alberio's manipulation of gravity or exposed by the sudden lack of cover.

The librarian stiffened when he thought he heard a rustle and then a quiet splash. Turning around he rushed through his garden over to the edge of the platform. His estate rested in the centre of a massive lake which was replenished by a large waterfall. He was just in time to see the last of the ripples lapping against the side.

Alberio jumped when he heard the noise of a buzzer. Returning to the security console he checked the CCTV camera perched above the door. Standing there was a tallish boy with short blonde hair.

Relief and recognition came over him as he activated the intercom. "Why Gary Sanderson, please come in. I'll unlock the door for you."

The librarian saw the boy start in surprise in the screen before he entered a command into the computer and left to prepare for his guest. As he put the kettle to boil, he scribbled down a note to the Dean requesting a review of security for the whole campus. If an intruder can penetrate this far into Library Island they can surely access the rest of the school with ease.

* * *

The sun was just about to set just as Joseph and the Walking Club finished touring the entirety of the school.

"We conclude club activities when the sun sets. The campus is safe but it's better to be safe than sorry, especially at night" said Kaede, leading them back to the dorms.

Of course the twins knew she could handle any ordinary street criminal encounter which was why they stuck close to her.

"Now you should have no trouble getting around the school," said Fuka.

"But there's plenty more to this," said her sister.

"There's still Library Island, I heard your friend Gary's getting the hang of the place and well all the clubs here contribute a lot to the school. It's a pity you missed out on Festival," said Kaede.

"How was it?"

Kaede allowed the twins to answer. "Perhaps the greatest we've had ever."

In great detail they described it to him as they returned to the dorms. Of great interest were the Martial Arts Tournament and the campus-wide mock battle. Kaede kept silent about the other events involving the major sponsor and former classmate, Chao Lingshen. All the while Joseph paid close attention, marvelling at the extraordinary school life his new classmates led. Once they were done they were outside his room.

"Alright, thanks very much for showing me the school," said Joseph, "It's been great getting to know you all today."

"Likewise," said the twins together.

"If there's anything you can talk to any one of us," said Kaede, "See you tomorrow."

In a flash they were all gone. By then Joseph had gotten used to their disappearing stunts, knowing that they were all probably on the lower level. He knocked on the door and waited for Simon to ask for the countersign or for Gary to open it.

"Star."

"Texas."

There was a click and Joseph pushed the door open. He looked up to see the Simon retreating back to his desk.

"Hey what's up?" he called out.

"Nothing much..." Simon seemed oddly reticent, as he continued to type on his laptop.

Joseph went in and sat down on his bed.

"Had a hell of a day, is school is huge. There's nothing back home like this."

Simon grunted in acknowledgement, filling out the details he was going to post on his blog. "Where did you go?"

"I hung out with the Walking Club."

"Oh? Who's in it?" Simon didn't look up.

"Kaede and the Narutaki twins."

"Them? Did they give you any trouble?"

"No... Why? What happened to you?" Joseph went over to his roommate and looked over his shoulder curiously.

Simon had finished adding captions to his latest picture, featuring his Ghost web avatar before minimising.

"Got pulled into a date for next week," he replied, with a hint of a scowl, getting up and brushing past his roommate.

Joseph remained standing there before looking over his shoulder and saying, "Already? What's with the look?"

"What look?" Simon glanced up from the kitchen counter, wearing his sunglasses.

"Uhh… nevermind." He actually looked threatening with the glasses but Joseph pushed his luck anyway by questioning, "With who?"

The Brit crossed his arms and glared. "Akashi, Yuna."

"Never heard of her…what's with the shades?"

"Huh?"

"It's getting dark you know," said Joseph as he flicked on the lights as the shadows along the carpet of their dorm lengthened.

"I suppose…" conceded Simon, pushing his glasses up to reveal his bloody eye.

"What happened to you?" Joseph pointed.

"That's none of you business," the other boy snapped back as he pulled out his wallet and checked the contents.

"Where are you going?" Joseph asked as he watched Simon stalk to the door and pull on his shoes.

"Going to the mall before it closes."

"But we've already gone shopping and stuff." Joseph motioned to the bags of groceries on the counter, waiting to be loaded into the fridge.

"That's only food and stuff. I forgot to buy stationary," he answered, "I'll also go look for Gary while I'm at it."

The door began to close and he rushed for it, shouting, "Hey, do you need me to guide you? I know the quickest way there!"

It slammed shut before he got there. Opening it and looking out into the corridor Joseph could see no one else out there.

"_Dammit, did he also pull a disappearing act like the Walking Club?_"

He went and sat back down on his bed, almost tripping on another cardboard box on the way. There were still a few that were sealed but he had to deal with those later. First he had to transfer the groceries to the fridge. Once he was done he picked one of the remaining boxes up. As he did so he heard something papery slide over each other. He shook it again and looked for something to cut the tape on the lids. The kitchen cabinets had child-safe knives which still worked fine opening the boxes. Inside were packets of MREs (Meal, Ready-to-Eat).

"Well, if Simon had bothered to open these boxes," Joseph muttered to himself as he went and set out a table for three and dumped three MREs in the centre. "I guess this will have to do for dinner."

Knowing Simon and the school layout, he decided to pass the time by flicking on the TV. On screen the terrorist siege in Las Vegas was still the hot topic in international news. The city and most of the state were still under martial law with the National Guard posted in every city and on the interstate borders. US and Mexican Special Forces were reportedly active throughout the south-western US and northern Mexico respectively, hunting down the remaining terrorists. The identities of the perpetrators have revealed that the vast majority were mercenaries who were either former military personnel from around the globe or locally hired narcoterrorists. All the airports on the West Coast were locked down and all air travel was suspended in the region as well. Fortunately Joseph's parents had the foresight to change his flight booking from Boston to a different route just as news of the gassing at Hawking stadium in Vegas came to light on the first day of the attacks. While a military analyst was being quizzed by the news anchor about the near-impossible logistical coup pulled off by the terrorist leaders he flicked to another channel, checking the TV-guide for anime.

* * *

Bishop only had time for a quick bite and a shower at Hickam AFB which was a part of Joint Base Pearl Harbour-Hickam. Instead of the MARPAT camouflage she and her team wore to Costa Rica she had the traditional RAINBOW blue, the others being black and urban. A glance at the clock on the wall of the empty changing room spurred her on as she hurriedly shrugged on her black tactical vest, knee and elbow pads and gloves.

"Gotta get me a guy who can pamper me like this," she said as she laced up her combat boots which were returned to their shining black by someone else while she was washing. 36 hours of near non-stop action had left them severely scuffed.

Snatching up her RAINBOW issue helmet, Bishop rushed out onto the tarmac, dodging humvees and tug tractors towing trolleys. Naturally she gave the planes a wide berth. Her earplugs cut out most of the noise so she kept a keen eye out for her transportation. The hanger she had to reach was on the other side so she had to run the whole length of the runway. A trio of airmen smoking idly next to their humvee gave her looked up as she ran up to them.

"Can we help you ma'am?" the highest ranked of them, a sergeant asked, unable to see any rank or insignia on Bishop's uniform.

"Yes you may. I've got to get down to the last hanger down that way," said Bishop, pointing.

The sergeant stubbed out his cigarette, before replying, "Sorry ma'am, we can only transport members of the US armed forces as you may know. At the moment you don't appear to belong to any of the services."

"Maybe she's Delta or something like that," suggested one of his buddies, motioning to Bishop's helmet which closely resembled that used by the aforementioned unit.

"I might be…" Bishop wasn't ever; although she was a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment. She joined RAINBOW at John Clark's invitation and Chavez's recommendation after she and the latter were fought their way out of the Venezuelan jungle and defeated numerous militias over a week.

"Well I'm afraid I can't. You see we're off duty here," answered the sergeant. "I have half a mind to report you to security-."

Bishop resisted the urge to knee the guy in the nuts. Her kneepads would help and she could handle his two friends too. Alternatively she could impress them with her credentials but she was forbidden from discussing RAINBOW operations like all other members.

"Whatever…" She went on her way.

Two minutes later she felt a gentle rumble in the ground as a humvee pulled up right next to her. The back door popped open and a voice from the front passenger seat called out, "Hop in Bishop!"

"Logan?" Bishop looked past the sergeant who'd refused her a ride, manning the steering wheel to see the leader of Alpha team in the passenger seat.

"Yo!" Michael called from the back seat before saying to Jung, "Scoot over for her."

"Thanks." She got in and shut the door before feeling something bump against the back of her head.

"Don't mind Airmen Corum and Evans," said Jung, patting one of the two airmen who were stuffed in the cargo compartment behind them, restrained with plasticuffs and gagged.

"Alright, put the pedal to the metal Sergeant Miles," ordered Logan, "Bishop here has got a plane to catch."

"You didn't think you could leave us like this without saying goodbye, did you teach?" said Michael with a grin.

"Well you can't escape us, not after what we'd all gone through," said Jung.

Before they knew it they were at the hanger.

"Thanks for the lift." Logan let go of the sergeant's shoulder where he'd earlier threatened to perform a Vulcan nerve pinch. Of course there's no such technique but as an ex-Delta operator, he could do a lot worse. What was more surprising was that the guy had fallen for it.

After disembarking the humvee peeled away loudly, leaving them with the smell of burnt rubber. In front of them was Kawasaki C-2 transport from the JA-SDF. A farewell committee waited nearby, consisting of Charlie and Delta team and Joanna Torres.

"There she is!" called out Joanna, Alpha team's intel officer.

All of a sudden Bishop was surrounded by the group.

"Congrats teach! We heard you've got one last assignment before you'll be promoted."

"Well done, we were behind you all the way in Costa Rica."

"Good luck in Japan, Bishop."

Surprisingly Bravo team's helicopter pilot, Gary Kenyon wasn't there. According to Jung he had was called up for another urgent task and couldn't attend. However he'd asked him to relay his best wishes to Bishop.

"I heard Sharon and Brody are both still recuperating," said Bishop to Michael.

"Yeah, they're both at the David Grant medical centre at Travis AFB," he answered, "When we checked, Brody was just discharged but Sharon will take a bit longer."

Other than Echo team and Kan Akahashi who were all killed, Sharon Judd and Brody Lukin were the other RAINBOW casualties of the Siege of Vegas as the media had dubbed the events. All of this was supposedly instigated by Gabriel Nowak, the RAINBOW traitor.

"Ok!" Joanna called out, "Let Bishop have a few words before she misses her flight!"

Everyone immediately made a circle around her.

"Ok guys," she started before pausing. "I know it's been a tough few days for all of us. I've trained all of you at one stage or another and I have to say that I couldn't have asked any better… I couldn't be prouder every one of you. I know it seems short but… thank you all so much for this. When I drop in to Hereford after I'm done, all drinks are on me."

Everyone cheered at this and Joanna whistled to regain their attention.

"I won't be gone very long. Maybe three months at most but that's no excuse for you lot to slack off."

There was a round of guilty chuckling at that.

"But once again. Thank you so much. And don't forget! We're team!"

Everyone cheered and started shouting their farewells. As Bishop ascended the steps to the plane Logan went up and passed her a sealed envelope with an address.

"Could you please go see Kan's family when you get to Japan?" he quietly requested, "I know it should be me but I don't think I'll ever have time in the near future."

"I'll do it. He wasn't just your loss. We've all lost a good man."

Bishop took the envelope from Logan before they exchanged fist bumps. With a final wave to all the RAINBOW personnel, or her former students, she entered the plane.

"Marion Bishop?" asked the pilot, who was waiting just inside, holding a clipboard.

"Yes, that's me," she answered, testing her Japanese.

Impressed, the pilot said, "Ok get seated please. We're behind schedule."

* * *

"Tea's great," said Gary taking a generous sip from the cup.

"I'm glad you like it," replied Alberio.

He'd heard the whole story from the boy of how he was stranded at the bottom of the cavern. Gary initially had reservations about mentioning the dragon he'd seen though. However as he sat at the table with the strange man sipping tea in another underground cavern, this time with a waterfall and a house, he was beginning to give it some consideration.

"Seen anything unusual other than the dragon since your arrival?" asked the librarian, wiping his mouth.

"You don't say…" Gary put down the cup. "Well besides having a ten-year old as my teacher he also has a talking ermine."

"Isn't that something?" Alberio leaned back, smiling. "Is he perverted as well?" he added.

"You could say that…"

Gary's arm itched horribly under the improvised bandage he wore. Since it was hotter in this cavern, he'd taken off his jacket but his black long-sleeved shirt had hidden any bloodstains from the cut.

"By the way, what's with the drastic security here?" he asked, holding up the dart which had injured him earlier.

Alberio chuckled. "Oh, I didn't implement those security measures. They were actually in place even before I was born. These traps I'm sure your friends have told you, were designed to counter book thieves. Most of them have become obsolete with age though."

Gary nodded, not entirely convinced. The book he was holding was relatively new but the dart was ancient, consisting of a rusted iron shaft and bodkin head.

"_Shit, good thing my parents made me get a tetanus shot before leaving_."

"You alright there?" The librarian gave him a concerned look.

Gary sighed in answer before saying, "Now that I remember, no I've got an injury requiring stitches which I'd tried to patch up myself."

He rolled up a sleeve to show the librarian who recoiled at the sight before getting up. "You should have told me much earlier. I'll be back soon."

As he watched the librarian hurry inside, Gary rubbed the surface of the paper bandage but stopped when the pain rippled up his arm.

"Worst idea ever," he cursed to himself before pouring himself another cup from the teapot in front of him.

Once he was done, Alberio was back, swinging a medical kit in one hand and a cordless phone in another.

"Healing isn't my area of expertise but I'll rebandage that arm for you and call someone to come pick you up," he said, sitting back down and zipping open the kit.

Gary placed his arm on the table in front of him after clearing the tray holding the teapot and cups. Alberio pulled out a pair of scissors and carefully cut away the paper which was stained brown with clotted blood. As he did so he saw the staples embedded into the skin.

"What on earth did you do to yourself?" he asked, horrified.

"I had no choice," Gary replied, "I have to improvise on the field with the limited available resources at my disposal."

"_Oh, so he's learning already_?"

With a sigh the librarian pulled out an antiseptic wipe and began cleaning the cut and the staples.

"It's better if I don't try to remove those. We'll need someone from the infirmary to do it."

Just then they heard the buzzer. There was someone at the front.

"Let me get that, I'll be back soon." Alberio frowned a little as he was interrupted from dialling on the phone.

A few minutes later he returned with a smile.

"We're in luck. Help has arrived faster than usual it seems."

"Gary!" Negi ran up, closely followed by his friends. "We were so worried about you. Thank goodness you're safe here."

They all sat down around him as the librarian left to get more refreshments for his guests. It was then that they noticed Gary's arm.

"What…did you do to yourself?" Negi was shocked.

"Is that a Frankenstein impression you're trying?" asked Asuna.

Nodoka and Yue looked like they wanted to hurl. Konoka was covering her mouth in disgust. Haruna meanwhile studied it with morbid fascination.

"I know, real hypnotising isn't it," said Gary sarcastically as he noticed exactly what it was she was paying attention to.

"That's going to leave a real nasty scar," she said.

"Not if I can help it," said Konoka, "Just wait until Ako gets the staples out and I'll get to-."

She was silenced with a glare from Asuna before she could reveal her healing magic.

Gary noticed and asked, "Do you have medical training?"

Negi stepped in. "She does, but Ako-san is the one who can help the most. We need to get you to the infirmary."

They all stood up and followed the young teacher's lead.

As they started to leave Negi called out, "Alberio-san! We've got to go now! We can't let Gary's arm fester any longer!"

"Fester? What the hell's going to happen to my arm?" Gary demanded to know.

"Didn't you consider the chance you might catch a lethal infection?" said Asuna.

"That wasn't on my mind at the time. The only thing I cared about was stopping the bleeding."

"Real moronic of you still," she said smugly.

"I'd like to see you do better," he retorted as they all headed for the entrance.

"Want me to rip each staple out of your arm with a pair of pliers?"

Everyone edged away slightly.


	11. Umbra Catervae

Shadow Company, as it is colloquially known all over Mundus Magicus was formed from the merger of International Technology and Resources Corporation and Action Directe Services. Both companies were middleweights in their respective fields of natural resource development and exploitation and private security. The resulting consortium, ITRAD quickly made international headlines. Both companies complimented each other, shaving off costs for hiring outside security and providing the necessary funding for long term security contracts for other companies. After fifteen years of successful management it has grown into a major self-sustaining military entity, capable of supplying its own equipment and logistics. The ascension of the Shadow Company hasn't been without controversy, many voices have called it a destabilising factor in the magical world and the appointment of a new board of directors and CEO five years ago hasn't silenced those concerns.

One of ITRAD's secondary storage depots was located just off a freeway. No roads ran into the base as all access was from the air. Hidden amongst the hills and shielded away from prying eyes, the only evidence of the facility from the road was at night when the lights came on. Surrounded with electrified fencing and with defence wards on each post it was only Grade-2 security for an ITRAD facility.

A team of ten men lay in the grass overlooking the compound. In the dark they were invisible thanks to their enchanted camouflage battledress. One of them had a Cheytac Intervention sniper rifle with a flash and sound suppressor spell on its barrel. The spotter held a Megalosembrian army issue combat staff though shortened to his liking. The others were equipped with a motley collection of magical and Earth issue weapons.

"Alright, magic's been silenced. You've got thirty seconds," reported a voice over each man's earpiece.

Four of them raised their shotguns and fired grappling hooks over the fence. The wards which generated the magical barrier did nothing as eight Task Force 141 commandos used their zip lines to rapidly bypass the fence. Although twenty five earth years had passed since their arrival, each one of them had slowed the aging process by their long exposure to magic in the world. More importantly, each of them was still as fit as they were when they passed selection into their respective special operations units.

Crouched behind a large stack of pipes, Soap beckoned over to his teammates. He still hadn't changed his hairstyle despite being stranded for twenty five years in the magical world. Peeking out, he could see the main building twenty metres ahead. None of the windows were lit fortunately but he could see someone on the roof.

"Single patrolling sentry on the roof," reported Gator, the spotter who remained on the hill.

"You're cleared to engage," replied Soap.

"Taking the shot." Phoenix who lay next to the spotter peered through the image intensifier before squeezing off a shot. The guard staggered back and fell.

"He's down. Wait one," said Gator, scanning with his spotting scope which was mounted on a small tripod in front of him. "Clear."

"Let's go." Soap stood up and ran over to a side garage and flattened himself against the wall. All the while, he kept his rifle trained on the darkness in front in case someone decided to teleport in at the worst possible moment.

The other commandos followed suit, covering each other as they went. Once they were all over, Soap held up a fist, silently instructing them to hold position. He peeked over the corner, waited and then made a break for the other side.

"Clear this side, I've got you guys covered."

As the first commando crossed over to his side the door opened and out stepped a guard. Without hesitation, Soap reached out and grabbed him by the mouth, stifling a cry. He then kicked the back of one of the knees, causing the guard to fall back onto the blade of his knife. After thirty seconds, Soap gently laid the body on the ground and dragged it into the shadows. As he did so he examined the guard's clothes. Everything about the guard's attire was black, battledress, tactical vest, boots, helmet, gloves and even the balaclava; just about identical to black ops units in the non-magical world. He lifted up the edge of the uniform and saw darkness. It was as though a void inhabited the uniform which was why there was nothing of the guard's skin exposed. The shoulder patch consisted of a rook chess piece and lightning bolts, surrounded with the words: Umbra Catervae. The moniker, Shadow Company was eerily appropriate.

"Stack up."

The team lined up behind him right next to the threshold where the guard had come while Soap pulled out a snake-cam. Consisting of a thin fibre-optic cable connected to a PDA, it enabled him to peek through doors and other obstacles. The image resolution was a little grainy but he could see a hallway in front with closed doors along the side. Nearby there was one open door, revealing a staircase.

Withdrawing the scope he said, "Looks clear," before pressing his earpiece and asking, "How's everything at your end Price?"

Inside a stealth enchanted MH-47G Chinook helicopter sat Price, alone with a laptop from which he monitored the battlespace.

"We're holding position fifteen clicks southwest of your position. You're cleared to proceed," he replied before muttering, "Darn, I should be out there tonight."

Soap chuckled "Still young at heart I see. You should have retired by now."

Price sighed, he'd forgotten to disconnect. "I'm not too old for this yet. I don't look my age yet and I don't feel it either."

* * *

The International Technology and Resources-Action Directe consortium had its main administrative headquarters on the top eight floors of the Arden Tower in the business district of New Ostia. Some of the biggest names were invited to a function, held by the CEO of ITRAD and the Magicus Mundus' fifth wealthiest individual, Quentin Burnett.

"The hard work begins now. We, the consortium, particularly the men and women of Action Directe will strive to provide a proactive and discreet security presence for the 20th Anniversary Festival to hail the end of the war," said Burnett, a smartly groomed human in his mid thirties of average height and a friendly open face.

True to his origins in the non-magical world, he spoke with a clip-on microphone attached to his suit opening instead of using an amplifying spell. As he concluded he raised his wine glass in a toast along with the guests. From his perch on the upper level, he could see them gathered about the leather sofas, the dance floor and near the floor to ceiling windows where they could admire the view of the city at night.

Burnett turned around, flanked by two bodyguards to find himself face to face with Kurt Godel, governor-general of New Ostia.

"Good evening Governor. I was about to find you just now," said Burnett, giving his best smile.

"Same here Mr Burnett," he replied, shaking hands.

"Please." The businessman gestured for him to sit opposite him before saying, "I would like to thank you personally for your efforts in approving our offer through the Megalosembrian government."

Godel uneasily fingered clenched his fist as he replied, "That's hardly necessary, my involvement was minimal. The legislation in the senate only passed by a scant four votes. You may understand how controversial your offer was, especially amongst the Ariadne Knights."

"Tradition is something our company strives to uphold but I don't begrudge those who opposed us." The businessman cast an eye over to Senator Jean-Luc Ricardo who was talking to Seras, the General Secretary of the Order of Magical Knights and Headmistress of Ariadne Girls Academy.

"You know it's a recipe for disaster," Seras whispered harshly to Ricardo, glaring at the CEO out of her eye. "What does that callous bastard think he's doing? Cashing in on a sacred event that's meant to commemorate the thousands who died all those years ago."

"Aye, I know. He's a mere Ivy League grad who doesn't know how our world operates," said the Senator, downing another glass. "This latest project of his will cost the company millions. You know their military component hasn't done any major contracts over the last five years? And that was when he took over management."

"Yeah, I saw less of those Action Directe sociopaths on the streets, thank goodness. Farrell was only marginally worse that Burnett."

"Well, all that shouting didn't do Farrell any good. I guess that's how he got an aneurysm," said Ricardo, looking up at the skylight in contemplation. "At least that old tyrant was upfront… ruthless but unimaginative and predictable. This kid…" He gestured to Burnett who was mingling again with the guests. "Too much of a politician, an appeaser… too familiar… I see older versions of him come in and sit next to me in the Senate."

"All the more reason why he can't be trusted," muttered Seras as Burnett started making his way over.

"Ok, this time don't go ape and try to gouge out his eyes this time," whispered Ricardo with a grin.

"Why General Secretary, Senator, I hope you are enjoying yourselves this evening," said the businessman cheerfully. He only offered his hand to Ricardo but Seras didn't care.

"Good evening, Mr Burnett," she said coldly, pretending to sip on her glass of wine.

"I'm doing just fine," replied the senator, pumping the hand enthusiastically and coaxing a couple of sickening pops.

The businessman winced and withdrew the pale, slightly crushed hand behind his back before saying, "Of that I'm glad to hear."

"So what is it you want to talk about?" asked Seras abruptly.

"The upcoming festivities. You and I will both be running a joint security operation approved by the Confederation and the Empire. Actione Directe has much to learn from you and the Ariadne Knights," answered Burnette cordially, "I believe this is an opportunity to improve the interoperability of both our enterprises."

"Is that so?" She was only half listening. To her silent dismay, Ricardo had gone and was stuffing his face at the buffet table.

"Of course. We have an interest in maintaining the peace. By working together we can extend our capabilities," appealed Burnett.

"What capabilities? You actually think I'll work with you once this is over?" She almost laughed in derision.

"Well… If you truly believe that the… old school style of peacekeeping will work in this day and age… then I'd have no problem returning to the status quo once the festivities are over," the businessman replied glibly, lifting a glass off a tray from a passing waiter. "With Bastian de Kere resurfacing-."

"Don't talk to me about him," snarled Seras. "If you had any sense you would stop funding those..."

She almost choked up while her hand ached after handwriting another wad of condolence letters for the families of her fallen Ariadne Knights.

Burnett blinked but regretfully replied, "I'm sorry. I can understand that it's also an emotional price a war leader must pay."

"This coming from a war profiteer. It's not the only price a war leader pays."

This time he looked a little hurt.

"You haven't a clue…" Seras downed half the wine in a single gulp. "I was commanding the Ariadne fleet twenty five years ago. What do you know of war? You were a ten year old brat on Earth whose parents paid for him to go get an MBA from Harvard."

That stuck Burnett in the gut. Probably because it was true but he shrugged it off.

"Did I ever say that war is beneficial to the likes of my company? Studies in Mundus Vetus has-."

That did it for her. She sculled the rest of her drink and snapped the wine glass in half. With a lunge she aimed the jagged glass shaft right at the ITRAD CEO's temple. As her target stumbled back into the arms of one of his bodyguards and the other whipped out a machine pistol from his shoulder holster, she was suddenly jerked back.

"Sorry I'm tardy to the party," roared Jack Rakan, knocking the broken glass out of Sera's hand.

"Mr Rakan. I see you've accepted my invitation. A little belated but that's alright," said Burnett, trying his best to smile while brushing himself off and motioning for the guards to holster their weapons.

"Lost my invitation. But gatecrashing is something I'm good at," replied the former gladiator and Ala Ruba member before accepting an entrée from one of the waiters.

"Nonetheless, make yourself at home," said Burnett before turning back to Seras who was breathing hard. Ricardo was whispering urgently into her

His gut turned over as their eyes met. In only a handful of face to face meetings there was only one other person who could ever ruin his poker face. The silence in the room gradually dissipated as the guests started chatting again. Most of the women were swooning over Rakan and the some of the gentlemen had clustered together, discussing in low voices and throwing looks at Burnett and Seras. It should have been a relief to him when he heard his phone ring, any excuse to get away from her.

However, the CEO of the largest conglomerate in the magical world tasted acid when he saw the caller ID. He made his way to his office, smiling at anyone who made eye contact, excusing himself and genially calling out to a friendly few by their first names. The façade dropped as soon as he'd locked the door into his office. With his bodyguards waiting outside he swept over to his desk and stabbed a button, activating several wards. One swept the room for electronic and magical bugs, another silenced all eavesdropping or recording spells and the last generated a soundproof barrier.

Once it was all secure he answered the phone, muttering, "Damned party poopers."

* * *

"Alright we're ready for extraction."

Soap and the rest of the team had set up a perimeter on the helipad on top of the main building. Behind them were several large crates, one of which was open.

"Hold position. We're coming in," replied Price as the Chinook took off and lumbered through the sky towards the depot.

"Tango down," reported Phoenix, allowing the bolt on his sniper rifle to cycle itself magically.

Another Shadow Company trooper fell, joining dozens of its comrades on the concrete. Already, Soap and his team had fought through the entire security force as well as the reinforcements which arrived via a summoning circle. A hastily placed claymore had dealt with that problem quickly.

Soap stiffened when he heard the harsh, electronic vocalisations of the enemy. Unlike the national armies of the Empire and the Confederation, any militia, mercenary or bounty hunter the Task Force had encountered, Shadow Company was the most dangerous. He looked over to the far side of the complex where more Shadow commandos were emerging, swiftly moving from cover to cover.

"Contacts front!" he shouted to his men, firing the SCAR-H assault rifle he'd picked up from a dead guard.

Nomad had an Mk 48 Mod 1 light machine gun which he used to suppress the incoming enemy, putting down a torrent of lead in long raking bursts. More of the Task Force commandos joined in, pinning down the incoming soldiers.

"Contacts six o'clock!" Zeus called out.

His M4 carbine had an underslung spell casting module, it closely resembled the blade-like spell casting tip on the end of a Megalosembrian army combat staff. He pulled the trigger to activate it and a jet of green light shot out from the attachment, exploding over the heads of the Shadow commandos taking cover below him.

"Taco, Kojak, get over there and help out," ordered Soap before getting on the radio again. "Price, how long? Out?"

"Two minutes, hang in there Soap," answered Price.

Soap snapped around when he heard Rooster cry out. The man had taken a bullet to the shoulder and was shouting every expletive he'd picked up in the magical world. The injury he'd received was glowing blue and there was an unusual fizzing noise and smoke being emitted as well. Rushing over, Soap shouted for Jayhawk to help hold down Rooster and ordered Nomad to keep the enemy pinned down.

"Toughen up, this will sting a little but it'll be nothing compared to the pain you'll feel if we leave it in there," he reassured the struggling man as he drew his combat knife.

"Come on Rooster, you're with the Corps man. You're better than this," added Jayhawk, a member of the elite 23rd Air Force, before joining the Task Force.

"I wouldn't be socialising with a wing wiper like you if it weren't for this 141 gig," answered Rooster, a US marine, breathing hard before saying to Soap, "Let's do this."

The SAS man grabbed the shoulder and carefully wedged in the knife. Its surface had a self-sterilisation spell coating so there wasn't a chance of infection. Rooster sucked through clenched teeth as the blade dug in deeper below the bullet. Suddenly it popped out and bounced on the ground where it continued to glow and smoulder.

"What the hell is that?" asked Jayhawk, dressing Rooster's wound as Soap snatched up the bullet and pocketed it.

"Bezerker round I think," he replied, "Fortunately we got it out in time."

"Thanks," said Rooster, getting up and hefting his assault rifle with his injured arm experimentally.

Price came into contact again. "Soap, there's an armoured vehicle approaching the LZ from the northwest, you'll need to take it out before we can land."

"Roger that," he answered, running over to the open crate.

On the inside surface there was a summoning circle, used for storing vast quantities of cargo in an alternate dimension, more commonly known as a hyperspace arsenal to the men. After reading the manifest on the side of the crate, Soap gave the corresponding incantation and watched as the circle glowed. There was a blinding flash, causing him to cover his eyes. When he opened them again he reached in and pulled out an FGM-172 SRAW (Short Range Assault Weapon) anti-tank missile launcher.

As he sprinted over to the northwest where Kojack, Zeus and Taco were waiting, he was almost knocked over by a small explosion. The three defenders were knocked flat on their backs but aside from scrapes and bruises they were fine.

"Was that the armour?" Soap asked Taco.

"Yeah, luckily Zeus summoned a barrier just before it fired," he replied weakly.

"Ok I want all three of you to pool your energy for another one so I can take out the armour," instructed Soap.

"Affirmative boss," answered Kojack before joining his teammates in their incantations.

Soap peeked over the edge and saw a French made AMX-10RC tank destroyer with its 105mm anti-tank cannon pointed squarely up at him. The Shadow commando standing in the turret hatch saw him and pointed, shouting something down to the vehicle crew before reaching for the turret mounted M2 machine gun. At that moment the magical barrier was at full strength, blocking the gunfire. Soap took aim with the SRAW and waited for a lock-on tone. The AMX cannon fired a HEEL (High Explosive Elemental Lightning) round which completely destroyed the barrier in a brilliant pulse of electrical energy. At the same time the target was locked and Soap fired the missile which shot straight up nearly a hundred metres into the air before diving back down and smashing vertically into the AMX through the turret and exploding inside.

"LZ's clear," he reported to Price.

"Acknowledged, keep it that way."

Soap whistled, getting everyone's attention. "Lay claymores by the stairs and fall back to the LZ."

The team did as they were told. M18 claymore anti-personnel mines set with detector ward detonators were set up at the top of the stairs. Everyone withdrew to the centre of the helipad, facing out in a clearing large enough for the Chinook to land. A few minutes later they were all aboard with their cargo.

"Have you got everything I'd specified?" asked Price, picking up the manifest as the helicopter landed again, outside the depot perimeter to pick up Gator and Phoenix.

"That and more," answered Soap, leaning back in his seat. "Plenty of stuff to last us another six months at least."

"Hmm, spare parts. Good. MREs. Good. Uniforms and apparel. Good. Ammo. Check. Small arms. Check. Ethera fuel. Check. Wards. Check and everything else we need to continue our fight. Well done," said Price, "Got any intel from the base?"

Soap grinned. "Speaking of base."

He nodded to Nomad who thumbed his detonator. The depot they'd left behind was engulfed in a massive explosion.

"This is what we got. Cypher managed to crack the contents for us." Soap handed over a laptop to Price. "There was also a memo I found." He held up a sheet of paper.

"Basically it details the replacement of all of Action Directe's frontline personnel."

"What do you mean?" Price looked up the laptop.

"You know how the consortium has been getting all these semi-demon creatures called Shadows five years ago. They're essentially the same as those used by Cosmo Entelecheia, except that they've shrunk them down to humanoid proportions, dressed them up like black ops commandos and given them guns."

"There's no question there's a connection. Anything else?"

"ITRAD has been granted a contract to provide security for the upcoming anniversary of the end of the war."

"It doesn't really change anything does it… even if Garnett is a major partner in Cosmo… why's he still trying to make a quick buck now? It doesn't make sense."

* * *

**Umbra Catervae is Shadow Company translated to Latin and seen on the shoulder patches of Shadow Company troops in the game.  
**

**23rd Air Force was the USAF's prime special operations unit prior to the establishment of AFSOC in 1990 in order to avoid anachronisms since TF141 in this fic was established in 1985.**

**I'm aware of the connotations Action Directe may have as it was also the name of the French armed revolutionary group in the 1970s-80s, I apologise for any offence caused by this.  
**


	12. Dog Patrol

Most of the stores at the mall had closed by the time Simon had gotten there. Fortunately he'd managed to pick up the pens, ruler and calculator among many other things he needed before proper lessons started on Monday. Unfortunately it was dark already and without any landmarks he realised he was lost.

"Should've brought Joe along with me," he muttered to himself, setting off west.

The path was well lit and there were still a lot of people out and about. That way took him to where Chao Bao Zi had set up shop. He wound his way between the tables set up in front of the trailer.

"Hey Simon-san!"

He twisted around to see Ku Fei waving at him and sitting at a table with a dark haired boy around Negi's age.

Waving back he walked over. "Evening to both of you."

"This is Kotaro Inugami," the martial arts expert introduced the boy who nodded haughtily back at him before pushing out a seat at the table to Simon.

"Pleased to meet you, Inugami-san," greeted Simon, sitting down in the offered seat.

The dog-human hybrid hanyo said, "Same here. I just heard about you and your friends' arrival, Reilly-san. What's this specialist training you're supposed to be engaged in?"

As he took a long pull from the bottle in his hand, the hair on the side of his head parted a little and Simon caught a glimpse of Kotaro's unusually pointed ears. A little confused, he dismissed this as another pop culture quirk. Animal ears seemed fairly common as part costumes here anyway.

"I'm afraid I can't say. Strictly confidential," he smiled enigmatically at the kid, adding, "I'll have to kill you if you found out."

"I'd like to see you try," Kotaro retorted.

"He's quite the fighter actually," said Ku Fei, "He and I were just sparring at the gym before coming here."

"I've also started training regularly with Negi. His hand to hand skills are quite proficient. In addition to his… other talents." Kotaro coughed a little when he realised he'd almost given away too much.

"Sparring eh? Martial arts and stuff like that?" that piqued Simon's interest a little. "Black belt qualified?"

"I am in Kenpo," answered Ku Fei before pointing to Kotaro and saying, "He's unofficial but way beyond most masters I know. Getting to the second round of the martial arts tournament at the Mahora festival was no easy feat either."

The boy looked a little embarrassed, "I'd rather not dwell on such umm…"

"Oh!" Ku Fei waved her hand in dismissal. "Come on. At least you were knocked out fair and square instead of dropping out with an injury." She rubbed the arm that she broke after the match with Mana in that round of the tournament.

"I'm sorry to hear," said Simon. He turned to Kotaro, feeling something strange about the boy sitting opposite him… there was something distinctly canine about his demeanour.

"You wanna take a poke at me?" he asked, his competitive streak rising up.

"Thanks but no thanks, I'd rather not get my arse kicked on my second day here," answered Simon before turning to Ku Fei. "I was about to ask. Do you happen to know the way back to the dorms?"

"Uhh…" She curled her lips and looked up as she thought about it. "It's not as simple as just telling you which way, coz the school's so large. You just know where to go when you've been here for a term. It'd be easier if I showed you the way myself but I promised Yotsuba-san I'd help with cleaning up this evening. Ask Kotaro-kun, he stays with his sister Natsumi-san from our class."

"Ok…" Simon turned to Kotaro. "Lead the way."

"First…" Kotaro held up a finger. "How about you and I spar?"

He hoped to see what kind of specialist training it was that Simon and his friends were involved in.

"What? I can't be seen fighting with a brat like you," answered Simon, "Sorry mate, gotta pass on that."

"Well, it it's sanctioned by me, the master," said Ku Fei. "Then no one will object."

"If you refuse then… I'll help out with the washing up too and you'll have to find your own way back," added Kotaro. He hoped Simon would take up the challenge. Chizuru and Ayaka always made him do the dishes back at his shared dorm and he didn't fancy having to do it here either.

Simon sighed, checking his watch and realising it would be better if he'd got this done and over with. He wondered what Joseph had made for dinner, assuming the guy could cook.

"Ok, just one round."

"Three," interjected the girl.

"What? Get my arse kicked three times in a row? Are you kidding me?" gasped Simon.

"Come one, I'll go easy on you. I'd just eaten so I won't move too fast for you," said Kotaro with a grin, getting up and taking him by the upper arm.

For some reason Simon allowed the kid to drag him over to the grass just past the concrete where the tables were. Kotaro's strength was surprising too.

"Looks like we're putting on a show for the guests tonight," commented Ku Fei, looking over at the other patrons who turned around in their chairs to watch.

She then picked up several long branches and placed them so they formed the outline of a reasonably large square, about 7x7 metres.

"Alright. Best of three. You win if you throw your opponent out of the square or if your opponent taps out," she instructed. "We clear?"

"Yeah." Both boys nodded before turning to face each other from opposite corners of the box.

"Shit. What the hell did I get myself into?" Simon whispered to himself, nervously watching Kotaro bounce on the balls of his feet confidently.

Ku Fei stood at the edge with an arm raised.

"Fight!"

In a flash Kotaro was halfway across the box. His right arm was poised and ready for a right hook. Simon raised his arms instinctively, tracking the progress of his opponent's arm.

"_Observe what I do carefully," said the SAS instructor during hand to hand combat training. _

_He raised his forearms with the hands open and straight at the wrists. The volunteer came forward and let loose a flurry of punches which the instructor deflected. _

Alas, Simon was a tad late. His forearm caught Kotaro on his bicep which didn't help as he was almost knocked off-balance with the hit to the ribs. He managed to block the strike form Kotaro's left fist but only with his right hand. Fortunately he'd avoided a broken wrist from that poorly executed block. The hanyo jumped back, allowing Simon to fall to his knees in agony. It didn't seem right to finish off his opponent in this state but he wasn't giving any indication of quitting yet.

"_Keep your arms at an oblique angle and your hands straight so as not to take the blows straight on." _

"Alright, I'm up." This time Simon got into a proper stance, raising his forearms with the hands open and straight at the wrists.

"Ready?" asked Kotaro.

No sooner had Simon nodded than Kotaro leapt forward again. Immediately he unleashed a volley of punches but Simon this time was ready, channelling the impacts down the length of his forearm. After a few seconds of this Kotaro suddenly jumped forward and kneed Simon high in the chest, sending him flying out of the box.

"That's one to Kotaro!" announced Ku Fei. "Your blocking technique was good but don't forget your opponent isn't going to be static."

Simon nodded, rubbing his chest, saying, "That's the second time I got hit here today."

Both of them returned to their positions at opposite corners.

"Round 2!"

Kotaro this time threw a roundhouse which Simon dodged, leaning back slightly, his nose was just a centimetre away from being broken. He threw a straight punch, but Kotaro easily wove around and punched him low in the stomach. Simon lurched over, almost retching but there wasn't anything to throw up. The spectators applauded as Kotaro backed up again, waiting for him to recover. Wiping his mouth, Simon stood up again and resumed his stance.

Again, Kotaro was in his face, this time coming in from the left, sending a straight punch with his right arm. Simon pivoted on his left foot while deflecting the punch with his left forearm. As he turned he whipped up his right elbow, almost hitting Kotaro in the back of his head. Fortunately the hanyo ducked just in time thanks to his razor sharp reflexes. Simon however was in a bad position with his back exposed to his opponent. Not surprisingly he felt himself being knocked to his stomach as Kotaro kicked him in the back of one knee and leapt onto his shoulders, pinning him down. Cursing his inability to move, Simon tapped out.

"Round 2 goes to Kotaro-kun!" said Ku Fei.

"Alright, that's enough for me," said Simon, wiping the dirt off his clothes.

"You're not giving up that easily are you?" asked Kotaro, "I'd never seen a rookie do this well on his first try."

"Well it's best of three so I've lost anyway," he replied.

"Aw, come on! Dignity round," pleaded Ku Fei, "At least you can lose with honour."

Simon thought about it for a moment. "Ok..."

A few cheers arose from the crowd. He hoped their entertainment wasn't entirely derived from watching him get his arse kicked.

"You can't just lose on purpose either," said Kotaro, returning to his corner.

"Right…" Simon had half a mind to do just that.

"Last Round! Go!"

In an instant Kotaro was right in front of Simon, lashing out with a punch with his right hand. Almost instinctively he dodged back and grabbed the outstretched arm at the wrist with his right hand. Immediately he followed up with two kicks to the stomach with his right leg, stunning Kotaro. Next he grabbed the hanyo's right shoulder with his left arm before bringing up his left leg horizontally in front of Kotaro's waist. He leapt up sideways so his right leg went across the back of the younger boy's knees. As Simon fell, both his legs acted to scissor his opponent and knock him to the ground on his back with Simon still on top at a right angle to Kotaro's right.

"_Now that you're in the dominant position, a chop to the neck with sufficient force will fracture your opponent's windpipe and kill him," said the instructor after successfully performing the manoeuvre against another SAS recruit. _

Raising his left hand, he brought it down on Kotaro's chest with a painful slap.

"Good one!" complimented Ku Fei.

With a groan, Kotaro tapped out. "Oh… My tummy."

There was a loud round of applause from the audience as Simon got up and helped his opponent to his feet. Kotaro was still rubbing his stomach and his chest.

"You alright there?" he asked the opponent.

"Not really… That was quite a good takedown actually," complimented Kotaro before he returned to his moping.

"Oh what are you whining about?" said Ku Fei cheerfully, "You still won Kotaro-kun!"

"The boy didn't answer as he crouched down and panted slowly.

"Geez… I think I hurt him bad," muttered Simon, rubbing the back of his head. "Tell you what. I'll buy you a pint since you won. It actually wasn't too bad."

Ku Fei gave him a strange look. "He's not of the legal drinking age yet."

"Huh?" Simon started. "Oh, that kinda slipped out. Sorry. I'll buy you a soda from the vending machine when we get back to the dorms."

"Actually I think Kotaro-kun needs a bit more help getting back to the dorms," said the girl, giving him a concerned look.

"No, it feels better now," said Kotaro, standing up as straight as possible. "Just got to remember not to do any physical activity immediately after eating. That's what Chizuru-nee always said."

"I'll text them now," said Ku Fei, pulling out her phone before noticing someone in the crowd. "Well speak of the devil. Here they are."

Before she or Simon could say anything Chizuru had rushed over and was hugging Kotaro tightly, cooing, "Oh Kotaro-kun, what on earth were you doing? Picking a fight with one of the new boys?"

Not far behind was Natsumi who looked every bit concerned as her roommate and a cross looking Ayaka.

"Eh, hey there," said Simon, awkwardly looking sideways at Kotaro and Chizuru.

"Hello, Iincho-san, Murakami-san. If you're unhappy about the fight then…" Ku Fei struggled to find an explanation.

Natsumi answered, "I hope Kotaro-kun wasn't hurt too badly. He's only a kid you know." She glared at Simon who looked a little taken aback.

"He should be fine, he did win after all but I think I'm in worse shape," said Simon, looking at Kotaro and then Natsumi. "You two are siblings right?" he asked, a little too suspiciously for the latter's liking.

"Yes," she replied abruptly. "Ask Chizu-nee or Iincho."

"Fine." He decided to let that slide.

"What a pity. Normally I'd object when students in our class fight, but I wished I could have been closer to see that brat get his arse handed back to him. Pardon my French," said Ayaka with a darkly amused smile.

"No one objects when you and Asuna-chan fights," complained Natsumi and Ku Fei together.

"That's totally irrelevant. When boys fight, someone always gets in trouble or gets hurt," the class rep shot back.

All this was making the situation more awkward for Simon and this didn't help when he noticed why Kotaro was struggling so hard to break free from Chizuru.

"By the way. Now that you're all here, can anyone show me the way back to the dorms? And have either of you seen Gary? He'd gone to the library with Yue, Haruna and Nodoka if I remember correctly," he questioned Ayaka and Natsumi.

"I did see Gary go to the infirmary when I spoke with Negi-sensei and his friends," said Ayaka, "He appeared to be injured. I don't know the cause of it though,"

"If you want to find them just go straight. The infirmary is easy to find for newcomers," said Natsumi, pointing to a sign with a caduceus symbol superimposed on a first aid cross. "Keep going straight and on your right there will be a three storied building on your right with all the lights on. That's the main infirmary building. You can't miss it."

"Ok thanks."

* * *

Shizuna's eyes widened when she saw what happened to Gary's arm.

"Oh, dear what drove you to do this to yourself?" she asked, reaching for a syringe of anaesthetic.

"I lost my first aid kit in the library," he replied, "Had to do something or else I would have bled out."

Shizuna nodded, as she poked the syringe into the side of the injury. Ako who also acted as her assistant sat nearby, looking very very ill.

"Izumi-kun, you need to pay attention. It's not everyday we get such an unusual case," the head nurse told the girl.

"Yes Minimoto-san," she replied weakly, forcing herself to look at the wound before quickly averting her eyes.

* * *

Negi paced about while his students and Chamo lounged about in the empty waiting room, reading the magazines on the coffee table in front or watching the TV hung in the corner. Konoka noticed the young teacher's impatient pacing and called out. He looked over and saw her patting the seat next to her.

"What is it Konoka-san?" he asked, sitting down.

"Don't look so stressed out. You're supposed to be off duty this weekend so there really isn't anything you could have done. Besides, Gary's in good hands now," she reassured.

The phone at the empty reception desk started ringing and Ako came rushing out to answer it. As soon as she was done, Negi stood up and walked over.

"How's his prognosis?"

"Well we've got to keep Gary-san here overnight for observation. We don't want him getting septicaemia so as soon as the doctor on call gets here, he'll prescribe something for him." She covered her mouth suddenly. "Umm, sorry Negi-sensei, but I'm not exactly sure if I should be discussing this with you. I'm so sorry but you're not exactly his legal custodian or-."

Negi held up a hand. "Don't worry. I'm at fault here. I shouldn't have asked."

Ako shuffled her feet awkwardly. "I can tell you with a good degree of certainty that Gary will be able to attend class on Monday."

"Thank you Ako-san. That's all I need to hear," said Negi.

Everyone jumped when they heard someone deep within the confines of the infirmary shout, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? YOU'RE GOING TO USE IT ON ME?"

"I think the doctor's already arrived," said Ako, "I gotta run."

In an instant she'd disappeared through the double doors.

"Maybe the pliers would have been a better alternative," suggested Asuna.

"Nothing we can do for him now," stated Yue, inserting a few coins into a vending machine.

The front door slid open and in came Simon, swinging a plastic shopping bag holding the stationary he'd bought earlier. Haruna who was texting on her phone furiously looked up and gave him a very sly smile which he chose to ignore. She then leaned over and whispered to Nodoka who jumped as she listened before beckoning to Yue.

"I heard Gary was brought in just now," he said to Negi.

"Yes he was Simon," the teacher replied, "It was a rather serious injury so he will have to stay here until tomorrow morning at least."

"How serious?" Simon demanded to know, sitting and placing the bag on the table.

"He's got a cut down the length of his arm." Asuna traced it out on her arm. "And he sealed it up with staples."

"Uh huh." For some reason he didn't seem very surprised.

"Can do we go as soon as we hear the latest?" asked Nodoka, dropping a magazine and picking up another, only to drop it as it was an even older edition.

"I agree, it's getting late and we're all hungry," added Negi.

"But not before I go in and confirm his status," said the older boy.

"Alright, we'll all go and see him together, because Simon says." Konoka chuckled a little at her lame joke.

A collective groan arose from everyone in the waiting room.

"So Negi… I met up with a friend of yours, a lad named Kotaro Inugami," said Simon, stopping in midstride, "I heard from Ku Fei that you and he are regular sparring partners."

"Yeah that's true, we both practise martial arts together. Ku Fei's a master and she trains me as well," answered Negi, hoping Kotaro didn't spill anything about magic or his demon heritage.

"Interesting fellow… He challenged me to a round of best of three. You can imagine the results." Simon grimaced.

There was an awkward silence as Negi resumed his pacing and was joined by Simon. Meanwhile the whisperings started by the Library girls had reached Konoka, Chamo and Asuna who reached out and tapped the teacher on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

She whispered the details to him.

"Really? With Yuna-san?" Negi's eyes widened in surprise.

Simon heard and turned around slowly. There was something ominous going on in his eyes, especially the one with blood in it. "So you know? Looks like I'll have to terminate each and every one of you with extreme prejudice."

Everyone recoiled in fright.

"I'm just kidding," he laughed before asking in a serious tone, "Who here found out first?"

His eyes settled automatically on Haruna who was having a great deal of trouble looking innocent, especially next to Nodoka whose eyes were invisible and Yue who had her usual poker face on.

"Who was your source?" he asked slowly as he came over and placed both hands on the armrests of the chair on which Haruna sat, leaning in menacingly. Yue observed out the corner of her eye and Nodoka shrank away.

The rumourmonger of 3-A returned his stare defiantly and said semi-jokingly, "You can't touch me. I'm bulletproof."

Simon rolled his eyes and retorted, "I know that. I'm just enjoying the melodrama here so I'll ask nicely. Can you tell me how you found out? Please."

"Ok… The cheerleaders in the room above the dorm where you and Yuna were last seen had heard what was going on," she answered, "Satisfied?"

"Plausible enough. The walls have ears after all," he conceded, retreating.

"There's no shame in that though," reassured Konoka.

"Yeah, some of Aniki's students have crushes on him," added Chamo.

Nodoka, Yue and Negi went red at this while Asuna rolled up the ermine in a magazine and secured it with an elastic bad.

"In any case we'll support you all the way," said Konoka.

"Wait-!" Simon's denials were drowned out by a collective cheer of agreement from everyone in the room.

* * *

Patience wearing thin, Joseph left his dorm to look for something to do. There wasn't anything good to watch on TV and neither of his roommates had turned up. The table was set and could remain that way indefinitely. It was deadly quiet in the corridors of the dorms and deathly cold too. A chilling breeze suddenly blew down the corridor, ruffling his hair and making him shiver. As far as he could see there weren't any open windows, nor were there any open doors leading outside. Walking along he swore he heard footsteps on the walkway above but when he looked there was no one. With a shrug he continued until he got to the vending machine. As he inserted the coins he saw something formless in the reflection of the machine display approach and a slight chill. Whipping around he saw nothing.

Sayo Aisaka, 3-A's resident ghost chuckled as she floated up and away.

Joseph waited a minute but heard and saw nothing. By then the machine had cancelled his order and returned his money. As he started the process again he definitely saw a humanoid figure reflected in the display. Turning around he came face to face with Kazumi, who didn't look very pleased at all.

"Uh, hello Asakura-san," greeted Joseph uncertainly.

She gave him a broken smile and punched the side of the machine, right next to Joseph's ear. He gulped and looked up at her as he shrunk back.

"Hello Joseph-san. Perhaps we can continue our interview," she suddenly said in a bright cheery voice, pointing to a wicker table with chairs right next to the machine.

He gave a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to stuff my body into the machine just then."

"I was considering it," she joked.

"You're awfully persistent," complimented Joseph, "Sorry about getting dragged away this morning."

"I don't blame you but..." Kazumi leaned forward and spoke seriously, "I need something published by Monday morning for the school newsletter. I need to have the story ready by tomorrow afternoon. See what I'm getting at?"

"I understand. Ok, we can talk but I can't tell you why I'm here," he answered.

"Fine. Let's start with the basics. Your Japanese is quite good, about the same level as our teacher when he first arrived. Care to tell us how you learnt it."

_Defence Language Institute – US Department of Defence _

"Well as soon as I got the letter, my mum got me a series of language books. I started reading them at home and then on the plane. By the time I'd finished the journey had ended here. I don't know how I got into it so quickly," he replied after taking a moment to think about it.

"Impressive," she said, scribbling into her notepad.

"How was schooling back in the US?"

He gave her the name of the magnet school he attended in Boston, briefly describing his experiences as it was a co-ed and non-boarding.

"How does it feel being here? I mean everything is different. You're in a girls-only class and a boarding school no less. I hope it wasn't too much of a shock," said Kazumi.

"I feel it's a little too soon to ask that question now. It's only my second day here and anyway, I haven't actually attended a class yet other than the last five minutes," answered Joseph truthfully.

"Ok… got a girlfriend?"

"Excuse me?"

"Was there a girl in your life before coming here? If so how do you feel having to leave her?" she reiterated.

"No…"

"Interested in anyone in this class?" questioned Kazumi with a grin.

"Do you think I'm going to answer that? Especially since this is going to be published next Monday."

"Ok, nothing conclusive. Rest assured I'll get back to you with that question." She scribbled a reminder to herself. "Are you confident that Negi Springfield will be a good teacher? Answer truthfully."

"What?" Joseph had to ponder this and phrase his response carefully. "Of course I have every confidence in him. If the dean thinks he's capable then I'm willing to go along with it."

"Right… Kazumi wrote down every word. "Can I quote you on that?"

"If it's going to make me look like a jackass, then no."

"Alright, I'll frame your words in a positive context then. I'm not about to start ruining your reputation right off the bat now," said Kazumi, scribbling a little more.

"That's acceptable. Anything else?"

"Last question for the evening."

"Shoot."

"Do you believe in the supernatural or magic?"

"Well…" Again, Joseph had to give this some thought, taking the talking ermine into consideration. "Well, I can neither confirm nor deny my belief in such notions." Before he added, "I guess you'll have to come back to me on this?"

"Yes I will." Kazumi scribbled this down with a knowing grin.


	13. Flashback: 30 000 in the Blink of an Eye

25 Years Ago

_Marines we have a possible fix on Al-Asad in the capital city. 1__st__ Battlegroup is en route. Intel indicates that Al-Asad may have an S-Class Hellian Strategic Yield Magic Warhead. Speed is critical. MES teams have been deployed to the area. Force Recon and Wild Weasel units have taken out most of the air defences but Al-Asad's ground forces still pose a serious threat. _

Sgt Paul Jackson of the Megalosembrian Confederation Marine Corps watched the display screen in the Gadfly troop airship along with his comrades. The capital city of the Carbarcz Revolutionary Republic was rendered as a 3D model on the display, enemy strongpoints were highlighted in red throughout the city such as the Ministry of Communications, the Ministry of Defence and the Presidential Palace. Parallel lines which curved through the battlespace, winding between the high rises and towers and dipping to near ground level denoted the vectors of dozens of strike fighters, deployed from the Confederation carrier battlegroup hovering on the outskirts of the city. Hundreds of ground troops were displayed, taking each block methodically and steadily increasing the digits in their casualty counters as the unseen enemy put up a vicious struggle.

Lt Vasquez, Jackson's platoon commander snapped his fingers as soon as the presentation was over. "Looks like we're rolling in with everything we got. We get Al-Asad. We end this war, right here, right now. Lock and load, Marines."

"Oorah!"The platoon replied loudly in unison.

"In formation, approaching objective. Thirty seconds," reported the pilot.

"Jackson, get on the Mk 20," ordered the lieutenant, pointing to the elemental burst cannon derived from the Old World Mk 19 which was mounted on a side window of the airship.

"Got it," the marine replied, moving past his buddies and grabbing the handles.

Jackson and his platoon had experienced 48 hours of near continuous combat ever since hostilities between the Confederation and the newly inaugurated Revolutionary Republic had broken out. During that time he'd distinguished himself as Vasquez's right hand man besides Staff Sgt Griggs. Cool under fire, Jackson had proven himself capable time and again, taking point, exposing himself to enemy fire to retrieve an anti-tank flame Yari, punching through enemy lines to destroy anti-aircraft batteries and breaking cover again to plant a telepath beacon for Close Air Support.

Vasquez made a note to himself to recommend the man a medal as he watched Jackson fire away at the enemy. Unlike so many others in the platoon, he'd also been very lucky. The platoon, which once had to be spread across five Colibri transports could all fit in one marginally larger Gadfly. The last two days had been very costly; no replacements had arrived yet because of the furious tempo of the invasion. The enemy were fanatical in their opposition, bloodying the Megalosembrian marines at every opportunity with suicidal delayed spells, IEDs (magical and non-magical varieties) and ambushes. In addition Intel had vastly understated the prediction that the opposing forces were being supplied with armaments from Mundus Vetus.

"Score one for military intelligence," were Griggs' exact words.

"_How true_," thought Vasquez as he listened to the latest orders being given over his helmet mounted telepathic link.

The Megalosembrian sponsored sanctions against Carbarcz included offensive spell casting implements and related materials as well as magical theoretical knowledge. Somehow they'd gotten their hands on Old World weapons like Argentinean made Mathogo anti-tank missiles, American M18 claymore anti-personnel mines, Type 56 assault rifles and Type 69 RPGs from China and much more. Anti-helicopter mines from Bulgaria were particularly devastating against the Confederation's smaller airships. Weapons stashes captured from around the country were being collected and studied by intelligence agencies around Mundus Magicus in an effort to prevent their proliferation and to discover their source. There were virtually no smuggling routes between the magical and non-magical world but with the civil war in the Hellian Empire there was no guarantee that all their gateports were being properly screened. As a result hundreds of marines have already fallen in battle against a lethal combination of NATO and Soviet bloc weaponry. It was one thing to throw up shields against rapidly moving spell bolts but it was another to face off against supersonic balls of hot lead. At least conventional magic energy shots could be seen and heard. Bullets were inaudible unless they just missed or struck something, hopefully not you or the guy beside you. In addition there was always the risk of ricochets where energy shields were nearly useless. Worst of all were the Barrett M82 anti-material rifles. The few which ended up in the hands of enemy snipers wreaked havoc against the marines' personal armour and airships.

It was no wonder that there were already peace protests at home and offers to negotiate for a ceasefire from Ostian Kingdom. Almost the entire population of Carbarcz had retreated to the capital; the rest of the country was virtually depopulated. Vasquez wouldn't be surprised if the Deshian river would run with blood by the end of the war. Pushing aside these thoughts, he stood up and dashed out the rear ramp of the Gadfly. He ducked as a bolt of ice zinged right over his helmet.

Jackson rushed up, firing his staff eagerly and ducking back as a bullet dinged against his armour which was already badly scraped and notched like everyone else's'. A corporal followed close behind him, firing an RPK-74 light machine gun he looted from an enemy stash a few battles back. Despite the disapproval of the top brass, Vasquez and the officers on the ground were substantially more forgiving, provided all Old World weapons were turned in once the war was over… if it would ever end.

"Watch for friendlies near the coloured smoke. Let's get our boys evac'd and get the hell out of here!" he shouted to his platoon once they were assembled.

* * *

An hour later the sun was beginning to set on the city. Smoke rose into the air as the bombardment continued unabated. Bodies were strewn over every street and in almost every building. High above, the lone Confederation cruiser continued to fire its spirit cannons wherever the troops on the ground placed their telepathica beacons. The strike fighters kept up an incessant series of sorties, returning to the cruiser to rearm and repair or replace the crews. The rest of the Megalosembrian battlegroup hovered just beyond the outskirts of the city.

One daring Colibri pilot plotted a vector directly towards Presidential Palace. As he flew dodged and weaved to avoid heavy anti-aircraft fire, missiles and homing spells. A fire mortar blast collapsed the roof of the palace foyer just as the transport airship passed over. A line of teleportation circles was vast from the Colibri as it completed its run and dove away.

From each circle sprang an elite Megalosembrian Naval Special Warfare operator, toting short casting staves and practical, lightweight armour. Moving at blinding speeds, they fired their staves, reducing their enemies to dust as they reached for their weapons. The team gathered in the foyer, forming a defensive perimeter as the leader placed an explosively formed penetrator charm in the centre. Standing back, he gave the incantation and the charm exploded downwards, making a hole to the basement. Covering each other, the operators entered and took up positions again around the warhead. The team leader quickly scanned the runes on the metallic cylinder and reported to his superiors.

* * *

Inside the CIC (Combat Information Centre) of the Svanhvit, flagship of the battlegroup, General Shepherd, Commander of Megalosembrian Forces in Carbarcz awaited news from the front. Next to him was Jean-Luc Ricardo, the ship's captain.

"We've secured the warhead, it appears to be a W55," reported the team commander over the radio, "A bit larger than expected but that's what the magic energy readings and the runes indicate."

"Better than expected," the general commented, turning his attention to the table mounted display of the battle. "We're sending in the MES team to enact the defusal rituals, sit tight."

"Yes sir."

"A tactical yield weapon… that will only flatten the government district right?" wondered Ricardo aloud.

"Yes it will. However most of our forces are out of the dangerzone." Shepherd circled the area on the display. "We'll insert the MES team under direct cover from Admiral Zdrot's ship." He tapped the symbol for the cruiser which was over the city.

"To be safe we should pull back some of our forces, we still have to take the shockwave into account," the captain suggested.

"I concur. We'll pull everyone back east and we'd better warn Zdrot to get to a safe altitude or move out of the zone. At this point he's sticking his neck out unnecessarily."

A few minutes later the orders were being carried out. The one to watch for was the Gadfly carrying the MES team which swooped in dangerously above the palace where the team was holding out against the enemy attack. Suddenly, the enemy positions around the palace started to disappear as the cruiser opened fire.

"Umm… that's cutting it a little close isn't it?" said Ricardo uncertainly.

"I never cared about danger close when back in my prime," Shepherd replied.

* * *

" We have a Dragonfly down. I repeat, we have a Dragonfly down. Deadly this is Outlaw Two-Five, come in, over! Command, I have a visual on the crash site. I see small arms fire coming from the cockpit. Request permission to initiate search and rescue, over," reported the Gadly pilot.

Inside, Vasquez and the rest of the platoon were still breathing hard after their latest engagement. Jackson was on the Mk 20 again, blasting away at the hostiles closing in on the crashed Dragonfly gunship.

"Copy 2-5, be advised, you will NOT be at a safe distance in the event the warhead spell goes off. Do you understand?"

"Roger that. We know what we're getting into."

"All right 2-5, it's your call. Retrieve that pilot if you can. Out."

"Deadly, do you copy? What's your status, over?" the Gadfly pilot hailed the crashed gunship.

"I'm here...Keating is KIA! Hostiles moving in fast! I could sure use some help down here!" the Dragonfly pilot replied.

"Hold on, we're coming to ya."

"Be advised, 2-5, hostiles advancing parallel southwest of your position towards the crash site."

"We got 90 seconds, Jackson! Get the pilot! NO ONE gets left behind!" shouted Vasquez as everyone piled out again and made a break for the crash site at a street corner.

Hostile soldiers opened fire from building windows above, pinning down the marines below. They returned fire, gouging out chunks of bricks and mortar and suppressing them with return blasts. Jackson continued to sprint ahead of the others, knocking down an enemy soldier with his staff and electrocuting another who'd raised an RPG against the crashed airship. Once he got there, he threw himself against the side of the cockpit where the pilot waited, firing a short PDW (personal defence weapon) staff.

"Jackson! Pull her out of there and get back to the LZ! Do it!" Vasquez ordered over the telepathic link.

He complied, pulling the pilot out and carrying her over his shoulders.

"Jackson! We're running out of time! Get her out of there! We'll cover you! Move!"

He ran as fast as he could for the waiting Gadfly.

"Get to the Gadfly! We'll hold down these corners! Go!"

His platoon had formed a defensive line, suppressing the enemy. As he passed them they slowed peeled back with him in an orderly withdrawal.

"Lt. Vasquez, this is Outlaw Two-Five, now would be a good time to get the hell outta here over," said the pilot.

"Roger that we're on our way!"

Lieutenant Volker, the crew chief on the transport helped him place the pilot in one of the seats. Once she was secure, Jackson raised his staff, blasting fire at the oncoming horde while the other marines piled on.

"Outlaw this is command. We have a probable S-Class threat at the capital. Proceed to the minimum safe distance until the all clear has been given by the MES team."

The last one aboard, Vasquez pounded the side of the Gadfly and shouted, "Go! Go!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We're in for some chop. Hang on."

There wasn't time to raise the rear ramp as the airship lurched forward into the sky. Jackson looked out as the city centre rushed away from him. Dozens of other aircraft were joining them in the mass exodus to reach a safe distance.

"All Megalosembrian forces, be advised, we have a confirmed S-Class spell bomb threat in the city. MES teams are on site and attempting the counter-ritual. I repeat, we're-."

* * *

While the MES team had assembled around the warhead, they'd activated their defusal circle for the ritual. The ten mage team stood at the critical points in the circle and each began chanting or casting smaller defusal spells. To their surprise, an array of red glowing lines suddenly appeared, all terminating at the warhead cylinder as though it were the hub at the centre of all the spokes in a wheel.

The cylinder broke open to reveal a smaller one underneath which was also covered in runes. Above it was a key-like object. None of the mages had ever seen anything like it. The key floated a few centimetres above the surface. For a moment nobody said anything, until it stopped floating and fell on top of the cylinder with a small thunk.

Everyone swore they heard a disembodied voice say, "Rewrite."

* * *

The ground began to glow. Jackson could see lines running along the streets which shone bright red. Suddenly there was a burst of white. The spell had gone off but it was different. Not like other S-Class spells of mass destruction which blanketed a wide area in fire, ice, shadows or any of the elements for that matter. A wall of glowing blue white energy had blossomed from the city centre where the centre of the spell circle was. It caught all the aircraft in a matter of seconds. Even Admiral Zdrot's cruiser which was still rapidly gaining altitude was caught in the blast.

Strangely as it passed over the Gadfly, Jackson felt nothing. The white light emanating from the blast zone engulfed everything he could see entirely. That was when he felt a lurch.

"What the hell!"

The copilot had realised his partner had disappeared; all that was left of him was a cloud of feathers. And then he realised his fingers were gone, slowly being eroded into feathers. Unable to take control, the aircraft began to spin out of control. In the back everyone was too busy trying to keep themselves from falling out to notice what was happening to them and their friends.

"Hang on!" Vasquez called out as the Gadfly's spinning continued.

Volker was almost thrown out by the G forces and was barely able to hold onto the ramp. Jackson, still hanging on, reached out with one arm but as he did so he saw Volker's arms disappear into feathers. The rest of him tumbled away into the air. For a second he watched, horrified as the body disintegrated before the airship spun him away from the sight.

* * *

Everyone in the CIC stood up as soon as they saw the spell circle appear on the screen.

"What the hell is that?"

Its circumference covered the entire city with intricate lines all over. At its centre was the Presidential Palace where the warhead was located.

"There's no such spell that needs such a circle!" exclaimed Ricardo, staring wide eyed at the screen.

"Shit… it's a sacrificial circle…" gasped one of the officers in the room.

"Sacrificial?"

"Yeah, forbidden magic… the soul of any sentient being killed within the zone will be converted into magical energy. There has never been one drawn of this size… ever."

"That means that they'd been using all our casualties and theirs to power their weapon…" said Ricardo, the horror of it all dawning on him.

"Pull back immediately," Shepherd snapped into his telepathic link.

Too late. There was a massive plume of magical energy detected on the ship sensors and the screen went white, dazzling everyone in the CIC.

"We're too late," whispered the general, staring unflinchingly at the screen.

* * *

Jackson woke up to the noise of his own heartbeat. Looking up he could see the ramp at the end of the crashed Gadfly. Groaning in pain he clawed himself up to the end. It was agonisingly slow and painful to do so in his armour which was shredded, some of the metallic plates had caved in and left bruises on his skin. His telepathic link continued to buzz in his head. He couldn't clear it as he reached the end of the ramp and squinted out before him.

The scene before him was surreal. The light was only just beginning to fade, allowing the night to take its rightful place so it resembled twilight. The air was thick with feathers, blowing in the wind and in the distance, towards the city centre he could see that most of the buildings were knocked flat by the spell. He could also make out the outline of the crashed cruiser lying on its side.

Jackson dragged himself out and fell out unceremoniously. He cried out as his broken body hit the ground hard. Gasping and wiping tears out of his eyes he grabbed hold of a piece of metal jutting out of the ground and lifted himself to his feet. Unsteadily he tried to take a step forward but he quickly lost strength and fell to his knees. Shutting his eyes and gritting his teeth, Jackson slowly stood up again; leaning unsteadily to one side with a broken ankle. Turning around he examined the Gadfly which was wedged between a building and a street. From the looks of it there were no survivors. He turned around and started to walk away. There were two things that first came to mind. Find his commanding officer, Vasquez and seek overhead shelter. The first was clearly out of the question as there were no bodies to be seen... only feathers.

There was a building in front of him, just past a playground. As he made his way there he saw a multi-storey set of apartments collapse in on itself, as though the wind had blown it down. Ignoring this he kept his attention on the path ahead. Weakly he put one foot in front of the other, occasionally jolting over and steadying himself. Looking up again, he took in the playground, the empty set of swings being pushed along by the feathers borne by the howling gusts of wind, the see-saw which was broken at the fulcrum and the rotating merry-go-round.

Dragging his eyes away, Jackson tried to stand up again but couldn't. It felt like he was no longer in control of his body. The numbness was starting to build up in his legs so he could no longer feel the excruciating grind of bones against bones inside his broken ankle. Falling backwards, it strangely felt comfortable but that was because he fell on a thick layer of feathers.

The numbness was spreading up his torso and he could no longer move his arms. Looking up into the slowly dimming sky, he thought he saw the outline of a little girl, standing there above the epicentre in the distance. His vision started to blur and everything was starting to go white. As he shut his eyes for the last time he though he could hear the voice of a child calling out.

* * *

**Megalosembrian Confederation Marine Corps... MCMC seems weird so let's have it as MC squared... Yeah that seems much cooler... Almost like Einstein's famous formula. **

**Wild Weasel is a generic USAF term for aircraft used to destroy enemy SAM, radar and aerospace defence infrastructure. **

**Reviews welcome. **


	14. Flashback: The First Horseman

**Intro for my OC. I would really like some feedback and criticism for this one. **

* * *

25 Years Ago

1 Hour before Detonation

The Presidential Palace shook under the blow of another spirit cannon impact from the Megalosembrian cruiser parked just south of the main government district which was still held by the Carbarcz Revolutionary Army. Plaster shook off the ceiling and walls as dozens of soldiers scrambled around the foyer, making preparations for their last stand as the 1st Battlegroup of the Confederation Marine Corps steadily ploughed through the defences.

In the middle of it all there was a young man of twenty who was in no hurry to leave. Incongruously, beneath the black cloak and hood he wore the battledress uniform of the Belgian Army. Staring out the entrance of the palace, the First Horseman, Bastian de Kere watched as dozens of Gadfly and Colibri troop transports sank and ascended above the roofs of the city buildings, many of which had collapsed. Dragonfly class gunships hovered and swooped, firing missiles which left glowing red contrails. Bright blue tracers from magically converted Russian ZSU-57-2 anti-aircraft vehicles reached skywards, occasionally clotting an airship from the sky. French Mistral anti-aircraft missiles and RPGs filled the sky like a perverse fireworks display.

The phone within De Kere's robes rang and he answered, not taking his eyes off the battle before him.

"Yes?"

"It's me," said Al-Asad on the other end. The hum of an aircraft engine could be heard in the background.

"Are you in Hellas now?"

"We just crossed into Ultranationalist airspace two minutes ago. Do you mind telling me why you're still here?" asked Al-Asad tersely.

"I'm supervising the last stages of the warhead preparations," the De Kere answered, leaving the foyer and walking down a corridor. The carpet, impregnated with innumerable pieces of plaster crunched with each footstep.

"Zakaev told us that Victor made some changes so it has a time delayed activation spell."

"Indeed… but you can never be sure-." He glanced up as he heard a loud creak and then dodged back. A chandelier from the ceiling was dislodged by another impact on the palace. It smashed onto the ground, leaving a good covering of glass shards and dust which dulled the black on the man's boots.

"What was that?" asked Al-Asad.

"The Megalosembrians were just making a statement about your predecessor's architectural tastes," De Kere replied dryly.

Two men in the resplendent armour of the Carbarcz Palace Guard stood at attention next to a door at the end of the corridor. With their combat casting staffs at port arms, they stepped aside for the Horseman who unlocked the magic security seals with a wave of his hand. The door remained open to keep the signal clear while he continued down into the basement. He lowered his voice so as not to be overheard, especially in the vast echoing halls of the palace basement.

"Those bastards… when I get return triumphant from my exile," Al-Asad growled.

"If you ever will return… or it there will be a country for you to return to…" answered De Kere, stepping into a circular chamber directly below the foyer.

In the centre there was a large sealed metallic cylinder standing upright which he approached and circled slowly as he talked. Imperial runes were engraved on its surface glowing with a faint orange light.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I mean that the other Horsemen and all of the Ultranationalists for that matter will no longer be able to guarantee your safety."

"Are you threatening me?"

"No, I'm just stating the facts. Task Force 141 already knows where you are. You'll be a corpse by sunrise."

"Impossible. The Task Force is a rumour deliberately spread by the Megalosembrians to scare all the other nations into following their lead," answered Al-Asad.

"Oh really? Why is it that the Ultranationalists have delayed the execution of Princess Theodora? Who made that ship in the Lockyer Clouds disappear with Zakaev's other spell bomb? How did the Megalosembrians know that we've got one here?"

Al-Asad was silent. "So… what are we going to do?"

"More like what are you going to do?"

"I don't believe you. Zakhaev is already making preparations for me. No one can possibly know where I'm going."

"_Probably wiping out an entire village for Al-Asad_." The First Horseman rolled his eyes. "_Fair enough. If you want to die alone it's your funeral. Don't expect me to call and check up on you when the 141 kicks down your front door_."

"In any case you'll be glad to know that the warhead is in good working order." He decided to change the subject, placing a gloved hand on the warm surface of the cylinder and reading a few of the runes. "I believe it's a W55 Tactical Magic Warhead with an equivalent 10 tonne yield."

"What!" Al-Asad screamed on the other end, almost making the man drop his phone. "I thought it was the strategic warhead we received from Zakhaev."

"Oh that's because I exchanged the cargo on the ship we lost just after its manifest was printed. Such a huge, cumbersome weapon is unsuited to my purpose here."

"_You would have realised if you'd even bothered to see the weapon_."

"Your purpose?"

"Yes… my purpose... Tune in later in one hour. You at least deserve to see your greatest triumph before they come for you."

He hung up the phone before Al-Asad could protest. After giving the cylinder one last look he stalked out of the basement.

* * *

An hour later, reclining in his business jet, the First Horseman opened his laptop and placed it on the empty seat opposite him as it booted up. He got up and snatched up a glass from the mini-bar at the back of the passenger compartment and then shut himself inside the bathroom. Flicking on the tap, De Kere poured himself a glass of water and rinsed his mouth to remove the taste of dust. He pulled back his hood and splashed a little water over his face. His lips and lower jaw were sunburnt after spending too long outdoors in Carbarcz. The rest of his face remained pale thanks to the hood and his green-brown eyes glowered back. He ran some water through his straight brown hair before leaving. Back in his seat he started flicking through all the news feeds on his computer.

"Something has happened-"

"What appears to be an explosion of epic proportions-"

"Details remain sketchy and unconfirmed-"

"To set off what appears to been an S-Class spell in his own country-"

"Al-Asad is rumored to be one of the victims in what may have been a suicidal-"

A satellite picture of the detonation site which had engulfed the entire city. Scorch marks from the sacrificial circle on the ground were still visible and it looked like the city had experienced a snowstorm. Smoke plumed up from hundreds of spots amongst the buildings as the crashed vehicles and other ordinance continued to burn. The rest of the Megalosembrian battlegroup had begun to withdraw from the blast zone. A few remained behind, deploying specialist teams to check for survivors and to survey the damage.

"Success…" De Kere murmured, opening up his stocks portfolio.

After a minute he picked up his phone and dialled the CEO of Ethera Unity Miners.

"Hawkins speaking," a man on the other end grumbled.

"This is Bastian de Kere. I take it you've heard what's just happened."

"Yeah, I was just watching the news. What the hell did they blow up?"

De Kere half lied, "I don't know but according to my sources in the Confederation military… don't quote me on this… this spell is something they've never experienced before. Right now dangerous levels of elemental radiation are spreading all over the country. All the ethera extraction plants are downwind of the particles from the explosion. "

Hawkins sighed audibly. "Such a waste… Carbarcz is rich in the stuff. Now no one can take a step in there."

The First Horseman frowned at this. "Perhaps now would be a good time to make your move."

"What?"

"_No wonder why this company's value hasn't risen for months_."

"You competitors are deserting this country like rats. Name your price for those plants and they'll be clamouring to sell you their 'contaminated' assets."

"But the workers will be in danger of radiation exposure," Hawkins replied.

"I can guarantee that this contamination is non-toxic," said De Kere.

He was looking up a meteorological report of the 'radioactive particles' spreading across the country. A computerised map of Carbarcz revealed that 80% of its surface was covered in a 'peculiar feather-like substance'. He knew there were no adverse after-effects. A few bribed scientists and doctored reports before the incident had the media and everyone else convinced.

"And who's going to agree to toil out there when you don't know if you'll drop dead, get cancer in ten years or have three eyed children?" retorted the CEO.

"Well… if you don't want to waste your precious employees…"

"_The guy might not be the sharpest tool in the shed but he did raise a valid point_," thought De Kere, reading the dossier on Y. Hawkins of Ethera Unity Miners on the laptop.

"If I recall… you don't really hold non-humans in high regard do you?" he answered, finding the section which detailed Hawkin's role in the EUM union decree only which only permitted full human membership. "_How did the likes of you ever rise to this role_?"

There was silence on the other end.

"Then hire some of those refugees from Hellas," answered De Kere before continuing, "Any questions?"

He could hear the CEO on the other end breathing hard.

"This is your chance to make it big," said the First Horseman, "Take action now and your company's future is secure. Demand will increase over the next few years. I can guarantee it and you'll be one of the world's richest men."

"Are you sure this is right?" Hawkins asked the question which had been bothering him the most. "I mean… all those people couldn't have died just so we can come in and-."

De Kere inwardly sighed in impatience. "They're not your men who died out there and they're not mine either. You've heard the adage that power requires sacrifice. No one said that that sacrifice had to be from you."

This time he heard the man pouring something from a bottle and the clinking of glassware but there was no answer.

"I can always take my advice elsewhere," De Kere prompted, "Or… Wouldn't it be scandalous when your shareholders find out how your company stayed away from Carbarcz when it was actually totally safe and you actually knew about it?"

He knew he had Hawkins convinced before he answered.

"And the catch?"

* * *

"You're early," said Fate Averruncus when De Kere was close enough to hear as he briskly strode down the corridor to the meeting room.

The two of them continued on side by side. The marble walls on either side were dimly lit as they headed for the door at the far end.

"What was with that stunt you just pulled in Carbarcz?" asked Fate in his usual monotonous voice, "We're nowhere near ready to commence operations."

"I needed to convince my clients that I can deliver," answered De Kere, keeping his eyes pointed straight ahead.

"Your clients do not serve us," said Fate, stopping and turning to De Kere, "If you wanted Carbarcz's ethera why didn't you use Zakaev's weapon? It could still have created a crisis without compromising our intentions."

De Kere halted and replied, "I needed proof of concept too."

"The Life Maker does not take kindly to those who doubt his powers. Even less to those who mock them," warned Fate.

There was silence before they both started walking again.

"I couldn't see anything wrong with that. The replica Key worked fine. All sentients within the area of effect were erased just as the Life Maker promised. This experiment had gone way over budget for me," De Kere countered.

They stopped at the door and Fate turned to him again, saying, "It was counter-intuitive what you did. The 30 000 you erased wasn't worth the cost of a multimillion drachma S-Class spell bomb as a catalyst and 7000 sacrificed souls just to cross the energy threshold."

"No need to rub the figures in my face. The returns on the ethera fields should cover the expenses and continue to fund our enterprise," said De Kere.

"Tell that to the Life Maker. Energy security and financing is below him. Don't forget what your place is in this organisation," said Fate as he opened the door.

The First Horseman felt a twinge of resentment as he followed, entering the underwater sanctum and taking a seat at the long table in the centre. There were a few other members of Cosmo Entelecheia sitting there. Interestingly they sat as far as they could from each other. There were no walls expect for an energy barrier which held back the sea. The other members looked up as he sat down at the very end. He could see a few sneers on their lips but no one spoke since everyone sat so far apart. Fate took his place at the front on the right hand side of the largest unoccupied seat. On the left hand side, Dynamis shot a venomous glare at De Kere beneath his mask. He ignored it. The Life Maker or Mage the Beginning was due any moment now and making faces back to one of his top generals wouldn't do him any good.

They all waited there in silence for a minute. No one moved or said anything. As De Kere poured a glass of water from the pitcher in front of him the lights suddenly dimmed. Looking up, there was the leader of Cosmo Enetelecheia, a figure fully cloaked in black and too tall to be a man, sitting at the head of the table. Fate motioned for silence with a light cough which echoed across the chamber. It was rather unnecessary as the Life Maker already had everyone's undivided attention.

Two hours into the meeting and De Kere had just given his presentation to the rest of the organisation along with everyone else. Everyone had their own role in bringing the Life Maker's plans into fruition. Fate had repeatedly stressed the inevitability of Magicus Mundus' demise and Cosmo Entelecheia's success. De Kere's role was vital, that of bringing the superpowers into a collision course. His own role in the conspiracy to provoke a civil war in Hellas and Carbarcz was just impressive enough for him to land a seat at the table.

"Bastian de Kere!"

He looked up, almost having dozed off in the corner, unseen. To his shock it was the Life Maker, not Fate who'd spoken.

"Do you realise how dearly your actions today have almost cost us?" asked the leader of Cosmo Entelecheia in a menacing, booming voice.

De Kere straightened up in his seat. "I'm aware of the great material expense to our enterprise but-"

The Life Maker cut in, "You had come within a whisker of breaking our oath to secrecy. What did you think you were doing? Flaunting our capabilities before the world?"

He tried to speak but for some reason his voice failed him.

"I cannot tolerate those who have no faith in our cause," the Life Maker continued.

"I never meant to offend you-." He was silenced with a raised hand from the leader.

"Lately I have been monitoring your progress."

This was surprising coming from such a powerful entity. Everyone's ears perked up at this.

"I have half a mind to leave the others to discipline you…"

For the first time De Kere glanced fearfully at several other members of the inner circle, especially Dynamis. They would positively jump at the opportunity to rip him limb from limb… considering how he won't be able to hold his own against even the weakest of them. This was despite being a member of the elite Belgian Paracommando Regiment and having fought alongside French forces in Chad just a year ago.

"I understand that this Task Force 141 formation has been causing problems for you lately, am I correct?" the Life Maker demanded to know.

"Yes sir," he managed to choke out.

"Like you I have come to the conclusion that they are the greatest threat to our plans, period. That is why I have thus far shown clemency. But… I predict that others more powerful and direct will come to confront us. In that event I want this Task Force destroyed. They cannot be allowed to hinder us in the future." The Life Maker let that sink in before going on, "Bastian de Kere, for one so short sighted as yourself; heed my orders for this is your penance. Destroy Task Force 141 or your life is forfeit."


	15. Day Three

**Events in this fic take place at the end of Ch. 168, Vol. 18; approximately July since that's when the events of Rainbow Six Vegas takes place and also before the summer holidays begin in Negima. Once again I don't own anything from the Modern Warfare, Negima or Rainbow Six franchises except for my OC.**

**If you guys didn't know. The Four Horsemen were the leaders of the Ultranationalists and OpFor in Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare. The First Horseman is never revealed in the series and that's not the only role my OC will assume as you will see later in this chapter.**

* * *

Once he was free from Kazumi, Joseph headed back to his dorm, having decided to start eating as soon as he could, Simon and Gary be damned. To his utmost irritation the door was locked. Hoping that either of his roommates had returned, he knocked and waited for one of them to give the challenge codeword. No reply. With a sigh he lifted up the doormat with the sole of his shoe but unsurprisingly there was no hidden key. Hearing footsteps he turned around to see Mana and Setsuna coming down the stairs at the end of the corridor.

"How are you this evening?" greeted Setsuna.

"Good thanks. Other than being locked out of my own room, Sakurazaki-san," he replied, tapping the doorframe before saying to Mana, "I don't believe we've met?"

"Mana Tatsumiya," she introduced herself with a bow. Unlike most of the class, she was fully aware of the newcomers' purpose at the school, having been briefed by the Dean and Takamichi.

"You'll have to go find Negi-sensei if you need a spare key. He is the homeroom teacher after all," said Setsuna. She could have forced open the door by using Yunagi, her nodachi sword to slice through the hinges or the lock.

Mana instead fixed Joseph with a calculating eye and asked, "Well, Allen-san… what else would you do in such a situation?"

"Huh?"

"If there wasn't a key and you couldn't kick it down yourself, how else could you approach this situation?"

"Well…" Joseph was puzzled by the girl's question but gave it some thought. "What I'd suggest would have me paying for a new door and get me kicked out."

Mana smiled and said, "Humour me."

"Ok. A C-4 charge in the lock, breaching hammer or a shotgun to the hinges to force open the door, entry via the windows or in extreme cases a directed charge from the floor above or the adjacent rooms," he suggested.

"Well that's fast. At least you're in the right mindset," the mercenary girl complimented. She had all the items Joseph had mentioned locked away at the temple where she worked but for obvious reasons she won't be able to help him.

"Perhaps you would like to tag along? I'm looking for Konoka-ojou-sama, I think she's with Negi-sensei." Setsuna offered.

"No thanks." Joseph shook his head. "I've had enough of this school for today.

* * *

"Other than that how are you feeling?" asked Simon, standing next to the bed with Gary in it.

He had just finished describing the procedure with which the doctor had removed the staples as well as his adventure in the depths of the library.

"It itches like hell and I feel like shit," he replied, holding up the arm which had proper stitches sealing the wound.

"When will you be out?" asked Negi.

"If nothing happens overnight I'll be discharged in the morning," said Gary before pointing to the drip connected to his arm. "In the meantime they're giving me some intense antibiotic therapy. Once I'm out of here I've still got to finish the whole course by taking pills."

Ako came in and knocked on the door frame. "I'm sorry but visiting hours have finished ten minutes ago."

"Alright Izumi-san," replied Negi and beckoning to the girls. "Let's go, Gary needs his rest."

Meanwhile Gary covertly passed the book he'd taken from the library over to Simon. His eyes widened when he read the cover and he quickly wrapped it in his jacket for concealment.

* * *

"Move it four metres to your left," Evangeline ordered over her walkie talkie.

Chachamaru complied, holding up the steel pole with a powerful electromagnetic grid and hovering above the scaffolding with the assistance of her rocket booster modules. Evangeline sat on a folding chair below, wearing a hard hat, reflective fluoro jacket and steel toe boots. It was only her, Evangeline, Chachazero and her robot 'sisters' who were remodelling the Lebenschilt castle.

"Actually that's not such a great idea. Put that back where you found it," ordered the vampire after studying the blueprints.

The gynoid made a noise which resembled a sigh and replaced the pole in its corner before landing on the concrete patio where her master was. Outdoor light mounted on tripod stands surrounded them stood on each corner while the work bench in the centre had a large blueprint next several toolboxes.

"Master."

"What is it?" Evangeline looked up.

"Why are we doing this?"

"I thought you knew already. We're preparing this for Negi-bozu and the three stooges," she replied.

"Ok. But why this?"

Chachamaru held up the blueprints from the desk. The maze of lines and scribbled annotations would have been a mystery to all but the architect.

"Haven't you heard that we're moving into a new training concept?"

"No."

"I see Chachazero didn't get the memo to you yet," said Evangeline, glaring at the little puppet which was struggling to pick up a sledgehammer.

"What is it about?"

"As of next Saturday most of our training will be scenario based," the vampire answered.

"I see, so it explains this." Chachamaru pointed to a list written on the side of the blueprints and read them out, "Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo and Foxtrot Ops. Have you decided what to put in those yet?"

"No," said Evangeline, gesturing to a thermos of tea on the bench.

The robot obediently unscrewed the lid and filled before handing it to her master.

"With due respect master, I've calculated that at the rate we're working, we'll be here all of tonight and maybe into late morning," she said.

Evangeline shrugged. "That shouldn't be a problem for you and your sisters."

"But you still require your eight hours of sleep," said Chachamaru urgently.

"I'm one of the undead, I don't need to rest," the vampire shot back. "This remodelling must be done perfectly."

Clenched in her fist was the golf ball which had injured her earlier that morning. "_Revenge will have to wait until next week. I will make this training hell for you Negi Springfield, Simon 'Ghost' Reilly, Gary 'Roach' Sanderson and Joseph Allen, aka Alexi Borodin_."

"The things Evangeline does for love. She wants it all perfect for Negi Springfield. Am I right?" teased Chachazero, tapping a pipe wrench into her palm in a threatening manner.

"What! No! Far from it! I want to make them all suffer, especially Negi-bozu!" Evangeline cried out, falling off her chair.

Chachamaru could only look at her sister robots. Within their common network they shared the same message, "_This is going to be an all-nighter_."

* * *

Sequestered inside her room, with all the lights dimmed, Chisame hopped in front of her PC to check her web idol status.

"So far, nothing remarkable has happened despite the arrival of those three new guys," she said to herself while she waited for the computer to boot up. "Let's hope it stays that way."

Opening up her site and checking the viewer statistics, she was relieved to find out she was still in within the top rankings nationally and the top within the school itself. The only concerning thing was that the gap between her and the site immediately behind had closed dramatically. Concerned, she opened the link.

"What fantastic idea did they come up with this time?" she wondered.

To her surprise it wasn't one of usual competitors. Instead it was the one featuring the newcomer Ghost. In the homepage there was an option for English or Japanese text.

"What! I thought I told him to watch his step in my turf!" growled Chisame, browsing through the comments in Simon's website.

There was a whole variety of comments mainly complimenting the character and all of its visuals. Unlike Chui none of the pictures featuring Ghost were really photos, just a series of pictures drawn from Photoshop end edited into various pictures

"Seems like I'm dealing with a skilled Photoshop user," commented the girl, opening the next link.

That particular page contained a western style comic strip. On top the text explained that translations and image resorting for local viewers would be done by next week. Chisame didn't get as far as the first page. It featured an upshot of the Ghost character, resplendent in the skull patterned balaclava, military gear and standing against a snowy backdrop. Rolling her eyes she made a quick check of the viewer statistics which confirmed her initial suspicions that Ghost was connected with the new boys. The majority of hits to the site came from Britain but there was already a small following locally, particularly since the site composer also had translated most of the texts.

Returning to her site, Chisame was torn between upping the ante with Chui or allowing Ghost to carve out his own niche in the Mahora network. Back on her site forum she took a glance at the latest hot topic. To her chagrin it was Ghost. According to the comments the rival site appealed to her male viewership and also female viewers. Chisame could imagine the emails from dojinshi artists requesting the rights to feature this increasingly popular interloper.

"_I could nip this in the bud before it threatens my rankings though_." the web idol felt the edges of her pactio card in her pocket as she contemplated preemptive action.

* * *

"Finally!" Joseph jumped to his feet as Simon, Negi, Konoka, Asuna and the Library trio arrived outside his shared dorm. With them was Setsuna as well. After greeting them all he turned to Simon, demanding to know, "What took you?"

"Been buying stuff, went to see Gary who's been hospitalised and got my arse kicked." Simon held up his shopping bag. "Whatever happened to you?"

"Got locked out that's what," he replied.

"I hope you weren't stuck too long," said Negi, "You could have easily asked anyone from the class if you could stay for a little while."

"Well it's about dinnertime and I didn't want to impose on anyone this evening," answered Joseph a little sheepishly. "But don't worry, it's all good now." He then turned to his roommate. "Well don't just stand there, open the door will you?"

"I don't like your tone," retorted Simon, unlocking the door and entering before saying to the others. "I'll see you lot tomorrow."

"Same here," said Joseph, following him in.

"Wait a sec!" Asuna who was scribbling something on a folded piece of paper ran up and held it out. "Could you do a favour for me and Konoka?"

"Sure." He took the paper but didn't read it yet. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

Everyone bade them goodbye but as soon as the door had shut there was the muffled sound of an argument. Feeling a little awkward, the young teacher led the girls away except for Haruna who stayed behind to listen by pressing her ear against the door."

"What's Paru-san doing?" asked Asuna, looking over her shoulder.

Yue called out, "Hey Haruna! Leave them be! Why are you eavesdropping?"

Haruna looked up and put her finger to her lips to silence them.

"There's probably nothing to hear," said Yue, approaching with Asuna and Nodoka. "It's quite rude you know."

She ignored them. When they came up they heard the reason why she was fixed in place.

"Goddamit you Brit! Get off me!" they could vaguely hear Joseph on the other side.

There was a series of irregular thumps followed by angry cursing.

"I told you already Joe!" Simon managed to say before he was muffled. The girls heard someone cry out in there.

"Cut it out already," they heard Simon gasp out followed by Joseph saying, "Consider it payback!"

"Ok…" whispered Asuna uncertainly. Everyone in the vicinity was blushing. "I don't think they're doing what you're thinking Haruna…"

"Come on." Yue and Nodoka each took one of Haruna's arms and started dragging her away while trying to ignore the noises from the other side and to suppress their own imagination.

* * *

"_That was no message," said Makarov as he helped Alexi Borodin into the back of the hovercraft ambulance. _

_Suddenly the undercover Task Force agent felt the barrel of a pistol being pushed into his neck. It was then that he realised that the Cosmo Enetelecheia terrorist's eyes had changed. Before, the right one was blue and the left was green but now they were both the same green-brown. There was a wet crack as the 9mm bullet made a clean exit wound through the nape of Alexi's neck and ricocheted once off the wall behind. _

"_This is a message." Makarov pulled off his dark haired wig, revealing his true brown hair before he passed it along with his contacts to Anatoly who stared at Alexi in shock. _

_Viktor looked to his leader in confusion before he was prompted with a glare to shut the doors. Immediately Anatoly was as the wheel, driving the ambulance away from the scene at full pelt with the siren wailing away. As Alexi lay there, watching the vehicle speed away and seeing his own blood pooling on the floor in the side of his vision, he heard Makarov give an explanation over the earpiece before it went dead. _

"_The Megalosembrian thought he could deceive us. When they find that body... all of Hellas will cry for war." _

_A squad of Hellain internal security troopers rushed into the garage. Before he blacked out, Alexi saw the squad leader crouch down and check his pulse. _

* * *

"Hey! Get up! You're not dead are you?" Simon had Joseph by the neck and was shaking him awake.

"What?" He lashed out, knocking his roommate's arm aside.

Taken aback, Simon held up his arms placatingly. "Whoa, easy there, I don't want to continue that fight from yesterday evening."

Slowly, he swung his legs out of his futon and rubbed his eyes. According to the clock and calendar, it was Day Three of their arrival in Japan and ten o'clock in the morning.

"I only just got up too," said Simon, noticing where Joseph was looking. "You looked like you were having a nightmare so I didn't wake you. Turning over, mouthing words and your face looked well…" He couldn't describe what he saw. "Let's say it looked pretty intense."

Joseph nodded groggily and stood up, almost bumping his head against the bunk on top.

"You ok there?" His roommate watched him rub his neck gingerly.

"Yeah, just a little pain that's all," he answered, going to the fridge.

"Neck sprain? Maybe one of the girls will massage it for you?" Simon grinned at him.

"Humph." Joseph ignored that as he opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk. It didn't feel like a sprain anyway.

"So… what do we do now? I mean, we don't exactly have any homework unlike the girls and we're all ready for the lesson tomorrow," said Simon, also pouring himself a glass.

"Well, for one maybe we can help Asuna out." His roommate pointed to the note which was pinned to the fridge door. "And maybe we should find out if Gary's been discharged after that."

While Simon read the note, Joseph looked down at the book on the counter which Simon had brought in the night before. The title was 'The Anarchist Cookbook'.

"Actually I was thinking," he said, turning over the front page. "Maybe we should go shopping a little later."

Inside his dorm, Negi was enjoying a book that Nodoka had given to him yesterday. Asuna and Konoka had left early that morning and allowed him to sleep in until nine that morning. A note on the table said that they'll be back in the mid-afternoon. At least he didn't need to take his daily bath. If he was lucky he would only have to endure the ordeal once every two days. There was a knock on the door.

"Just a second!" he called out, getting up and tripping on his staff. Once he was on his feet he picked it up again and opened the door.

"Hey there Negi," said Simon, strangely enough he and Joseph were wearing what looked like military battledress.

"Good morning," said Joseph, looking a little guilty.

"Uhh, good morning. Simon and Joseph. What's going on?" The young teacher looked a little concerned as the two of them looked at each other.

"Kagurazaki-san asked us for a favour yesterday evening," answered Simon, holding up the note.

"She basically authorised us to use any means necessary to ensure that you got your daily wash," Joseph went on. "We can do this the easy way or…"

Negi was already backing out of the room. "Umm, sorry but I'm actually not feeling that well this morning. That's why the girls have already left and…"

As he saw Simon take a step forward, he shut the door with a prod of his staff. To his dismay he didn't hear the lock click. Not a moment too soon the door flew open again. Letting out a cry of fright, Negi grasped his staff to his body as Simon and Joseph rushed in, pulling what looked like hoods over their heads. A second later he felt himself being pinned to the ground facedown with someone mounting him from behind.

"Hey! What's with the shouting? Chamo complained, walking out of the bathroom with a miniature towel over his shoulder.

"Oh it's that pine martin again," muttered Joseph, closing the door to shut out Negi's cries for help to the outside.

"Ermine, get it right!"

"Whatever," muttered Simon. "Hold still Negi. I don't wanna plasticuff you."

He showed the struggling boy a long strip of ugly beige plastic used to restrain prisoners by the military or riot police. To Negi's utter shock Simon was wearing a gas mask.

"What on earth are you wearing?" he and Chamo asked.

"MOPP gear. We got it from one of the boxes from the military," explained Joseph as he helped Negi stand up. "Come on Negi. We can make this a little easier for you if you cooperate."

It was only a short walk from the dorms to the bathhouse. As they passed each door they could either hear snoring or quiet conversation. Negi had half a mind to shout out for help but Simon held up a handkerchief gag threateningly.

"Well, Asuna told us that all means are acceptable," said Joseph apologetically, keeping a hand on the boy's shoulder while Chamo stood on the other.

As they passed Yuna's room, Simon started praying under his breath. "Please don't hear us. Please don't hear us."

All they could hear was the noise of a loud television set. Turning around, Simon saw Negi and Joseph looking at him with the hint of a smile, even though the latter had his gas mask on while Chamo openly leering at him.

"Not a word from any of you."

* * *

"Good morning," said Ako as she came into the ward where Gary was still in his bed, connected to a drip.

"Top of the day to you," he greeted, turning away from the TV which was hanging in the upper corner of the room.

"The doctor will be in to check on you in an hour. I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I'm sure you want to be out of here as soon as possible," she apologised with a short bow.

"It's alright. A pity I didn't get a sponge bath though."

Gary knew he was pushing his luck though when Ako replied, giving him a strange look. "Umm, I don't do sponge baths, the orderly does though." She pointed out the window to the room next door where a heavyset man in a white uniform was restocking a cabinet.

His face falling, Gary said, "Forget I asked. Oh and do you happen to know where's the loo?"

"Sorry, I don't follow," said Ako, helping him get out of bed.

"The bathroom."

"Oh. Down the corridor, fourth on your left and the first on your right," she answered, pointing out the door, "Careful with that now."

"I will," reassured Gary, gripping the stand which held the drip securely and walking carefully out of the ward.

Ako turned away in embarrassment when she saw that his hospital gown was undone at the back, revealing that he only had his boxers on.

"_Hmm, why does my back feel cold now_?" wondered Gary as he turned the corner.

* * *

"What is this?" The two older boys marvelled at the sight of the bathhouse which more or less resembled an indoor pool resort.

"Too bad we already showered before coming," noted Joseph, "But we've got a job to do." He and Simon looked at Negi who was backing away again.

"Easy there," said the latter, approaching from the side. "Don't wanna hurt you now."

"Uhh, can we work something out guys?" asked Negi with a nervous chuckle.

"Give it up Aniki. You're going to get your wash whether you like it or not," said Chamo.

Ten minutes later the young teacher was successfully subdued and lying on his stomach by the side of the bath with plasticuffs restraining his wrists behind his back and his ankles. Nearby Simon and Joseph who were still in military chemical warfare gear were sorting through a crate of cleaning implements. They had also taken the liberty of stripping Negi of his clothes save for his swimming trunks.

"Joseph, can you possibly loosen these?" asked Negi plaintively.

"Sorry, we can't trust you anymore," he answered, picking up a brush. "Not after you tried to pull a runner."

"Is this the shampoo?" questioned Simon, holding up a bottle.

"No, that's liquid hand wash." Joseph tossed the right bottle to him.

The boys' gas masks severely hindered their perception so Joseph's toss was long, requiring Simon to jump up to catch it. Unfortunately his timing was off and it thunked off his helmet.

"Oi, watch it!"

"Look out!" Negi called as Simon tripped over his prostrate body backwards.

The older boy fell and tumbled with a cry into the deep end.

"Oh shit!" Joseph rushed to the edge but his heavy black army boots slipped on a puddle so he accidentally ended up doing the splits.

"Oh! That's nasty!" Negi and Chamo shouted together.

Nearby, Simon had half dragged himself out of the water and was lying there, dripping wet.

"The pain…," moaned Joseph who had almost passed out. The eye pieces of his mask were fogging up from the interior.

"At least you're not wet like I am," Simon growled, making no effort to move. "This uniform weighs a ton when it's saturated."

Everyone's heads snapped around when they heard voices echoing throughout the room.

"Oh no," said Negi, looking up apprehensively at the girls change room door. He could see the shadows forming on the tiled walls inside.

Simon attempted to crawl out but his gloved fingers lost their grip on the edge and he fell back into the water. As he fought to rise all he could manage was to form a furious vortex of bubbles on the surface directly above him. Joseph was still stuck doing the splits and was in no state to move at all and neither was Negi who was still bound by his hands and feet.

"Bad timing. The girls are here," stated Chamo, jumping up onto Negi's back.

* * *

**MOPP is Mission Oriented Protective Posture, the term to describe military protective equipment against radioactive, chemical or biological threats in the environment. **


	16. All In

**Sorry about making you readers wait. I'm overseas on holidays so updates will be irregular. Reviews welcome. **

* * *

"What's this?" asked Sakurako, leading the girls out of the change room before stopping and staring from the doorway.

"Huh?" Ku Fei bumped into her from behind. "Move, let me see what it is."

There was a clamour as 3-A girls from behind tried to lean around or push forward.

"Negi-kun? What are you doing tied up like that?" exclaimed Sakurako, pointing at Negi who was still trussed up by the poolside.

"And who's that?" Ku Fei pointed to Joseph.

The boy had passed out from shock and was lying on his side with his legs splayed out where he'd been previously doing the splits. Since he was wearing his MOPP gear he was unrecognisable.

"Hey class… wait a second! I can explain!" Negi called out as everyone rushed over. He closed his eyes when he realised they were only wearing towels.

Unfortunately he was drowned out in the uproar as Haruna declared, "Negi-sensei's being kidnapped!" and pointed to Joseph and Simon who'd just crawled out of the water.

"Get them!" the cheerleaders shouted in one voice as the majority of the class jumped onto the two boys.

Ayaka reached Negi, crying out "Negi-sensei!"

With monstrously inhumane strength she pulled apart the plasticuffs around her teacher's wrists and ankles.

"Thank you Yukihiro-san."

Negi got up and gingerly touched the skin which was worn from chafing. Before he could say anything he was unexpectedly embraced by the student.

"How dare those kidnappers try and touch you," said Ayaka, "Even if they'd gotten away I would have payed whatever ransom for your safe return.

"Uh, thanks for the thought." Negi tried to bring her attention to the fact the 'kidnappers' were in fact Joseph and Simon."

"Umm, maybe we're going too far," Yue said to Nodoka. Both of them were standing to the side near their teacher and classmate and watching everyone else swarm the two boys. "I mean shouldn't one of us alert campus security or something?"

"HALP," gurgled Simon through his gasmask, surfacing for a second while the girls tried to drown him.

On the side Joesph awoke only to have all the air knocked out of his lungs under the combined weight of eleven fifteen year old girls. He blacked out again.

"Hey!" Negi managed to shout after extricating himself from Ayaka. "That's Joseph and Simon-san there!"

"What?" Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up.

"They were just here to give me a wash." Negi went over to Joseph's prostrate form and pulled off his gasmask. "Asuna-san gave them permission as well." He reached into Joseph's pocket and pulled out the note before slapping the older boy's face to wake him up.

Misora Kasuga read the note and announced, "It's true. Negi was only being given a wash by Simon and Joseph-san as per Asuna and Konoka-san's orders."

With a groan Joseph opened his eyes to see Negi crouched nearby. "Owww, my hips and thighs hurt like hell."

Suddenly there was a shriek as Yuna jumped into the water where Mana was still holding Simon under the water.

"Get off Simon-kun!" she ordered, prising Mana's unresisting fingers away from the back of the boy's neck.

With the assistance of Akira and Makie she managed to drag Simon's unconscious form over to the side of the pool.

"Still got a pulse," said Akira, ripping off the boy's mask and placing two fingers on the side of his neck.

"Should we remove the helmet?" asked Makie uncertainly.

"Better not, in case he's got a head injury. Where's Ako-chan? She's better at this than I am." Akira directed this question to Makie since Yuna looked like she was about to panic.

"She's still working at the infirmary."

"Someone call Shizuna-sensei!" Akira called out.

There was a scramble as all the girls except, Yuna, Akira, Makie and Ayaka rushed for the change room.

"Tilt his head to the left to clear the water out," Akira instructed.

"Got a lot of water here," said Makie as she complied.

"Simon! Can you hear me?" Akira asked loudly into his ear. "Squeeze-," she looked over at Simon's hands to see that Yuna was already holding them in hers. "Squeeze Yuna's hands if you can hear me!"

"Anything?" asked Makie.

Yuna shook her head grimly before placing a hand over his mouth and stomach, just above the diaphragm. "No breathing," she whispered.

"What? He had a pulse before, did we lose him?" exclaimed Makie before checking on Simon's neck again and shaking her head in distress.

"Ok, time for CPR," said Akira, cracking her knuckles and placing her hands in the proper position above the chest slightly to the left.

"Wait! I'll do it." said Yuna.

"You sure?" Akira gave her a questioning look but decided not to argue. "Don't forget what Ako taught us."

"Understood." Yuna reached over and pinched closed Simon's nostrils before slowly leaning over.

Simon awoke. The pain was back in his chest but worse, he felt like his skin was one fire. His eyes shot open and he saw another human face dangerously close to his.

"Argh!" He rolled away and shot to his feet. "What on earth were you about to do?" he asked, pointing at Yuna who remained crouched there, speechless.

"Thank goodness you're alright!" Negi called out.

"What happened?" asked Simon, looking around and noticing Joseph who'd just sat up.

"You'd almost drowned," said Akira, "We mistook you for kidnapping Negi because of your attire." She pointed to his and Joseph's uniforms.

"Yeah, sorry about nearly drowning you," added Makie sheepishly.

"Well, I guess it was just deserts for tying up Negi-sensei like that," Ayaka interjected angrily.

Before Simon could reply he found himself on the receiving end of a glomp from Yuna. It was then that the three males realised that all the females were only wearing towels. As the girls streamed back in, holding phones to their ears, Negi looked around and hid behind Ayaka. Joseph quickly put his mask back on to hide his blush.

"I was so worried," said Yuna, "I hadn't been this frightened since my dad almost choked while eating."

"Please…stop… Before I pass out again…" Simon managed to gasp.

"He's okay!" Natsumi called out, spotting them.

In an instant the girls were surrounding Simon, inquiring about the immediate status of his health and as well as that of his relationship with Yuna. All of which he politely tried to shrug off while trying not to look at their towelled bodies. That inevitably led to Haruna calling out, "Simon! You're overdressed for this bath!"

Meanwhile Negi, glad for the distraction snuck off, even evading Ayaka. A cheer arose from the girls as they started to strip Simon.

"Hey! What are you doing?" he asked, struggling to get away and hold onto his clothes. However he still felt weak after almost being drowned and could only offer token resistance.

Joseph was smart enough to recognise the danger but after doing the splits for the first time he could only hobble away slowly.

Kazumi, who was at the back of the huddle surrounding Simon was getting frustrated until she felt Chamo crawling onto her shoulder.

"Don't forget about Joe," the ermine whispered in her ear.

"Ahh…" She grinned, turning around and spotting her prey before shouting out, "Stop him!"

"Oh no you don't," muttered Joseph, limping as fast as he could for the male change room door.

Too late, he felt several hands clawing at the MOPP uniform. "No!" He shrugged off the outer layer of the suit, breaking free but tripping over.

* * *

Half an hour later Gary, fresh out of the infirmary walked up the steps leading to the bathhouse. Sitting there were Simon and Joseph looking the worse for wear, with their hair thoroughly ruffled, unbuttoned shirts and crumpled trousers.

"What happened?" he asked, stopping for a moment.

Neither of them replied. Simon and Joseph appeared catatonic, as though they were staring at something in the distance.

"Ok… well I guess I'll see you lot once I'm done," said Gary, continuing on.

Once he was out of earshot Simon asked, "Should we tell him?"

* * *

Inside the change room Gary quickly pulled on his swimming trunks before slinging a towel over his shoulder and marching out the door. Unwittingly the girls were still out bathing.

"Hey! Look who it is!"

"Kyaaa! He's not shy about his body unlike the others."

Suddenly he found himself surrounded by 3-A's girls.

"Were you hoping to perv on us?"

"How are your muscles and abs compared to your friends."

* * *

Gary's scream could be heard from where Simon and Joseph sat. A minute later Joseph pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket.

"So… we still need to buy a few things," he said, passing it over.

"What's this? Polystyrene? Sawdust?" Simon read off some of the contents.

"Remember that book you got?"

* * *

"Alright, we're on approach," the co-pilot said to Bishop who was alone in the back of the plane. "We're just getting clearance from air traffic control at Mahora Gakuen.

"The school has an airstrip?" she asked, perplexed.

"Yes it does, although it normally handles private jets," the co-pilot answered before he was called urgently back into the cockpit. A moment later he returned with a concerned expression and said, "I'm very sorry but according to the tower they're undergoing maintenance. We'll have to divert to Narita instead."

"But I need to be there by 1200 hours today," said Bishop in a dismayed voice, "If we divert I'll be at least 45 minutes late."

"I'm sorry but we simply cannot land without proper clearance," the co-pilot replied, "Unless you intend to jump." He pointed to the rows of parachutes lining the side of the passenger compartment.

"_Dammit. I thought Six was joking when he said that I'll be directly inserted into the school_," thought Bishop before she made up her mind.

Ten minutes later the ramp at the back of the plane had lowered and the green light blinked on. Bishop looked back to the cockpit and game a thumbs up before dashing out the back and jumping.

* * *

On the roof of one of the school observatory buildings, Chizuru was helping polish some of the smaller telescopes. It was a clear summer sky so the work was hot, making the girl wonder if she should take another wash. The loud thrum of a plane flying unusually low made her look up.

"_That's strange. Wasn't the aerodrome closed_?"

She tracked the plane as it slowly made its way across the sky before curiosity got the better of her and she grabbed the telescope she was cleaning to and swivelled it around.

"Looks like a military plane," she muttered, recognising the JA-SDF roundel on the side of the fuselage.

Through the eyepiece she could make out a human silhouette tumbling out the back before a parachute deployed from the back.

* * *

On the ground, Takamichi was on his way to the main administration building where the Dean was waiting along with the other magically aware st"aff. The meeting with the newcomer, Marion Bishop was due in a few minutes. Just then he heard out someone faintly calling out his name from the distance.

"Takahata-sensei, look out above you!" Chizuru shouted from the roof as she watched the person on the parachute plummet into the World Tree directly over the unaware teacher.

"Huh?" Takamichi glanced around, spotting the girl on the roof of a distant building. There was a loud rustling noise from above as something went crashing through the branches of the Tree above him.

Bishop gave a small scream as the parachute lines snapped on the branches. The ground was still a good ten metres below, if she was unlucky she'd probably get a broken ankle or at worse a broken leg. Fortunately, Takamichi proved to be a useful cushion for the fall.

The Mahora teacher was knocked flat on his back with his eyes shut. As he recovered felt something heavy on top of him. Opening his eyes he saw what appeared to be a helmet slip off the person straddling him. A mop of brown hair with the occasional streak of gray brushed his face. That was when he realised that his right hand was pushing back against the person's breasts. The second shock he experienced was when he felt something hard pressing between his ribs. Looking down he realised to his utmost relief that the woman he'd accidently groped had just pulled a gun on him. Bishop could hardly believe it either. The gun draw was near instinctual for her as a professional soldier and a self-respecting woman.

"Sorry about that," she said, getting off Takamichi and replacing her pistol in her holster and grabbing her fallen helmet. "I've got a very urgent appointment to attend with the Dean of Mahora Gakuen."

"That's alright," replied the teacher, standing up and offering a hand. "Marion Bishop I presume?"

"Yes that's me," said Bishop, looking flustered. A quick glance around revealed that the event was witnessed by quite a few students. Some of them were already taking pictures on their phone cameras, others were whispering to each other but most had their hands over their mouths

Nearby, Kazumi was delighted by her latest scoop. "How utterly scandalous," she crooned, checking the photo of Bishop and Takamichi together on her camera. This will get the gossip circulating in the staffroom."

"Ok... Let's get away from all these eyes," said Takamichi, also looking around uncertainly at the students.

"Lead the way then."

"Come on!" Takamichi ran off, followed by Bishop.

"By the way, the name's Takamichi Takahata," he said.

* * *

Two minutes later they entered the conference room near the Dean's office. Seated at the head of the table was the Dean. Also in the room were the other magically aware teachers like Seruhiko and Professor Akashi as well as the nun-patrol unit and Evangeline. Bishop gave them all a questioning glance before the Dean motioned for her to sit.

"Welcome to Mahora, Marion Bishop," said the Dean, "I'm Dean Konoemon Konoe. I understand your flight was long and arduous so feel free to have a bite while we fill you in on your latest assignment."

Bishop looked down and realised that a meat bun on a plate had just materialised from nowhere right in front of her.

"Yotsuba-kun was kind enough to provide catering for this meeting," said the Dean, opening a folder in front of him and flicking on a projector. "Feel free to request more."

* * *

PFC James Ramirez, Cpl Dunn and Sgt Foley all stretched their legs after getting out of the humvee which had taken into the wilderness of Wales.

"Tell me, what exactly are we supposed to be doing here again?" wondered Ramirez aloud, kicking one of his boots into the soil.

"We're on a NATO training exercise, remember?" said Dunn, pulling a SCAR assault rifle from the back.

"We'll be here about two months," said Foley pulling out a pair of binoculars and surveying the scene before him.

Down in the shallow grassy valley he could see a village and a lake.

"So... we're not going to be staying back at base for this?" asked Dunn, standing next to the sergeant.

"Yep."

"Damn... I'm already feeling homesick."

A moment later Foley called out, "Ramirez! We need to get to Waypoint Victor. Take point!"

With a sigh, Ramirez got up, quickly consulted his compass and set off with the other two in tow. Suddenly he tripped over something, falling flat on his face.

"Whoa, easy there boy," said Dunn, stopping and helping him up.

Meanwhile Foley crouched down and examined the object which had tripped up the young ranger. Wiping away a layer of moss with a gloved hand, he found himself staring at an unusual chunk of stone.

"Ramirez! What the hell is this?" The sergeant held up what appeared to be a long stick with an elaborately knotted end.

"Why are you asking me?" asked Ramirez after spitting out a mouthful of grass. "A novelty dildo."

"Ramirez." Instead of shouting, Foley's voice took on a deep and threatening tone. "I want your professional opinion."

The private gulped, stared at the stick and answered,"It looks like a mage's staff or something like that. It's certainly not an IED."

"Wouldn't a mage's staff be made of wood?" Dunn was examining the staff closely.

"Umm, I don't really care with all due respect. There's no such thing as mage or magic for that matter," said Ramirez.

"Ok, enough dithering now. Ramirez, get moving!" ordered Foley.

* * *

"What do you mean you've never played cricket?" said Gary to Negi.

The two of them were back in Negi's dorm. Simon and Joseph had left a note in their dorm, explaining that they'd gone shopping while Asuna and Konoka were still out.

"Umm, it's not like anyone here really plays the sport and besides, I never really had the opportunity to do so before coming here," said Negi.

"And you consider yourself an English gentleman," said Gary, shaking his head, "When you have never played the gentleman's game."

He got up and picked up Negi by the collar. "Let's go and see if this school has some cricket gear."

Inside the Mahora sports stadium there happened to be a set of cricket nets in the corner which were rarely used. There was no club for the sport so it was simply a matter of grabbing the gear from the storeroom without having to register anything.

"Ok... we're just about set," said Gary as he placed a set of stumps in the nets and laid out the cricket bats. "Now Negi, time to put on your cricketing whites."

"What?" Negi backed away as the older boy advanced on him with a bundle of white cloth.

"Oh don't worry," said Gary, unfolding the cloth. "It's not like you're going to cosplay or get dressed up or anything like that. In fact you'll look good in it."

As he was dragged to the changeroom, the cheerleaders, Kaede and Ku Fei overheard and watched curiously.

"What's this cricket he was on about?" asked Madoka.

"Looks like a sport," said Kaede, looking down at the bats.

"Let's see how this goes," said Ku Fei.

A few minutes later Negi and Gary came out of the change rooms, decked out in white flannel uniforms. Negi was wearing white kneeguards and a helmet with a wire visor, both of which were too large for him, making him stumble about drunkenly. Gary meanwhile strode forward confidently with a black cap perched jauntily on his head and tossing up a bright red ball in his hand and catching it. Immediately the girls watching on the sidelines paid closer attention, taking in Gary's slender physique and his attire.

"Negi. Did you remembered to put on your box?" asked Gary.

"What?" Negi stopped and looked up at Gary.

"Your box. Your hector protector. Your jewel case. The thing that's meant to protect your nether regions." Gary pointed.

"Oh..." Negi flushed behind his visor. "I'll go get it."

Unfortunately, their conversation echoed across the interior of the sporting centre. The girls on the sidelines all blushed too. Once Negi was back he quickly realised why the box was such a necessity. Gary used his height to his advantage as a pace bowler. With a run-up from almost half the length of the sports centre, his first delivery caught Negi right in the face. Fortunately his helmet visor stopped the ball before it could break the boy's nose.

"Ahh! Gary! Was that really necessary?" asked Negi, tossing the ball back. He'd brought up his cricket bat at the very last moment but he was too late.

"Yes it is. You'll never improve as a batsman if I don't try and take your head off with every attempt," replied the older boy.

"Such grace," Kaede commented to the others. Ten bowls later she was forced to swallow her words as soon as they saw Gary rubbing the ball against his crotch.

"Uh, why are you doing that?" asked Negi, watching from his end of the nets. "With all due respect that doesn't seem like a gentlemanly thing to do."

"I'm shining it," replied Gary. "If I keep one side of the ball well shined and the other rough, it will eventually swing towards the side depending which side is rough."

He demonstrated with a ball that bounced almost at Negi's feet. The young boy cried out, holding up his bat. The ball instead curved slightly in its path so instead of hitting the bat it struck Negi in the face again.

"What was that?" he asked kicking the ball back.

"That's a Yorker mate. A real tough one to pull off. It's got to bounce almost at your feet," he replied.

* * *

"So in conclusion... Magic exists... and so does vampires," said Bishop, rubbing her head and staring at Evangeline. "And I'm supposed to work with her and a ten-year old brat."

"Yes that's right," said the Dean. "You've got five days to get used to this reality before next Saturday when the real work starts.

Bishop fell back in her seat and glanced at the clock on the wall. The meeting had taken most of the afternoon. "In the meantime I'm supposed to be 3-A's PE teacher temporarily."

"It's a good idea for you to get familiarised with the people you'll be training. It should also get you into the teacher mindset. These are children after all and you can't work them like soldiers," said the Dean.

Bishops sighed and looked down at the class roster which was borrowed from Negi by Takamichi. "Ok, I'll do it."


	17. Flashback: Joint Operation

**This draws on an event shown in Ch. 230, Vol. 25 so it'll be a mild spoiler if you're not up to that yet. Would you kindly Read and Review please? **

* * *

20 Years Ago

Young Takamichi awoke with a splitting headache. He groaned loudly and tried to sit up but felt a hand against his chest, pushing him back down.

"Easy there lad," a British sounding voice spoke.

It was then that the boy realised he was tucked into a sleeping bag next to a small fire. Glancing about he initially couldn't see anyone around the fire but he could see a large bergen at the edge of the light. It was then he realised that the voice came from his left but when he looked he could only see a dark silhouette crouched next to him. With a yelp, Takamichi rolled away but since he was in his bag he could only tumble over awkwardly.

"Hey, I won't hurt you," the man in the shadows stood up and stepped forward into the light.

Standing at six feet, the man was garbed in British military DPM battledress along with a boonie hat. To top it off he had applied camouflage paint to his face as well.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Takamichi, scrambling out of the sleeping bag and backpedalling.

The man sighed in response. "The name's Roach. That's all you need to know. And in case you're wondering, I'm from neither the Empire nor the Confederation."

"Ok..." The boy nodded cautiously before looking around and asking, "What happened? How did I get here?"

Roach grimaced, went over to his bergen by the fire and sat down on it. As he did so, Takamichi edged away around to the opposite side of the fire.

"Maybe you'd like to relax or something. You were out cold for a few hours." Roach pointed to the empty sleeping bag which lay twisted on the ground. "That was only intended for emergencies but since I found you I made an exception."

Suspiciously, the gray haired boy walked over and picked up the sleeping bag off the ground, never taking his eyes off the G3KA4A1 battle rifle hanging off a three-point sling on Roach's body.

"You were one of the survivors of a downed airliner," Roach went on as Takamichi sat on a log opposite him and draped the bag over his body. "You fell, umm... 140 feet from a crashing airship that was south. Fortunately the trees cushioned most of the impact for you."

Takamichi stared at Roach for a moment before casting his eyes down, remembering the screaming of the other passengers in the airship and the rush of air as the air rushed out of the jagged holes in the fuselage. He and his mentor, Gateau Kagura Vandenburg were joining a group of refugees from the Argye Surtis subcontinent, escaping the Hellian Empire's invasion. However, an Imperial expeditionary force had already taken the Great Bridge from the Confederation. The airship had taken off from the strategic bridge/fortress just as it was overrun before being promptly shot down.

Upon remembering, Takamichi gasped and blurted out, "A spell tore a hole in the airship. I fell out just as it was crashing! What happened to Gateau Vandenburg and the others?"

He looked up to see Roach observing him from the other side of the fire. With the dark green, brown and black paint on his face it was impossible to read the man. It was like staring at a statue. Highly unnerving.

"Whoever wasn't killed y the impact was rounded up by the Imperials. You were about two-thirds of a klick away from the crash site. They ran a sweep through the forest but I got to you first. They found the blackbox from the ship but not the passenger manifest so they shouldn't know you're missing. I don't know anything about your, Mr Vandenburg. Speaking of which, what's your name?"

"Takamichi Takahata." After a pause the boy asked, "How do you know so much about what's going on? You don't look like the magical type," said Takamichi. He recognised the irony in his question considering his inability to use magic.

"I can use magic to a degree. I watched and listened in to their telepathic comms," answered Roach, "Magic reconnaissance."

"Uh huh." Takamichi took in the militaristic clothing of the stranger. "If you're not from the Confederation or the Empire, just what are you doing here? Roach seems more like a nickname."

Roach smiled and said, "Classified information. On a mission if that's satisfactory for you."

"Right..." Evidently it wasn't.

"Well I could have left you for dead if I wanted," replied Roach with a grin. "Listen kid. I'm new here and I get the feeling that you want to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Well yeah of course." After a pause the boy asked, "Can I tag along?"

Roach held up a finger. "I'm considering it. But it'll potentially compromise the operation."

"What operation?"

"I'll let you know tomorrow morning. Anyway, letting you go is out of the question."

"Since it will compromise the operation."

"You're catching on Takamichi," said Roach, "Anyway if you want to tag along we need to be clear on a few things."

"Go on..." Takamichi's eyes widened eagerly.

"But that's all for tonight," said Roach, standing up. "You only just woke up now and you'll need your rest."

"Oh come on," pleaded the boy.

"Absolutely not. Now that you're awake you had might as well have something to eat."

Roach turned around and pulled out an open envelope like container and said, "Normally I'd have eaten this cold but since you're here I've made a fire so we might as well."

He held out the packet. Takamichi reached over and took it but couldn't make out the contents until he took sniff.

"Ugh, is that even edible?" He folded up the container and held it at arms length.

Roach chuckled at this. "I know Captain MacTavish's 'famous' haggis may smell horrific but you'll need those calories to keep your strength up for tomorrow."

Reluctantly, Takamichi choked down the haggis at Roach's insistence. As he ate, he saw the soldier's eyes constantly roving, on the watch for danger. When Takamichi finished and threw away the packet, Roach was immediately on his feet, catching the paper before it reached the fire.

"Can't allow you to litter here, absolutely no waste must be discovered by the enemy."

"That's a little extreme."

"When I mean no waste I mean it. Which is why you shouldn't open the second pocket from the front on my bergen."

Takamichi wisely decided not inquire. Instead he asked, "What about tomorrow?"

"Well... We need to be up at first light. Which is why you'd better get your rest now," said Roach, hefting his rifle and pulling out a set of nightvision goggles.

Takamichi watched in puzzlement. "Shouldn't you sleep too?"

"Can't. I was supposed to stay at my OP for the night but since you're here I'll stand guard."

"OP? What's that?" asked Takamichi, snuggling back into the sleeping bag.

"Observation post. I was supposed to watch the bridge for the entirety of the night," answered Roach, pulling out a laptop and consulting the screen.

"Oh..." Takamichi felt a little guilty. "Sorry if I'm imposing on you and your mission."

Roach waved it off. "Don't sweat it mate. I got a camera spike to cover for me. If there's anything let me know."

As he stood up there was the distant sound of far-off explosions. Takamichi looked about fearfully but Roach didn't seem bothered.

"It's happening on the other side of the bridge. Don't worry." He however looked uncertainly at the fire. "Do you want to keep that on for the night?"

Takamichi at that moment didn't care. "Please, can we?"

"Well... Ok." Roach seemed a little reluctant but relented.

"Thanks." The boy tried to relax but as he shut his eyes he saw Roach moving away. "Hey where are you going? I thought you were only keeping watch."

The soldier put a finger to his lips and whispered, "I'll be close."

With that he gave a reassuring wink and took a step back, melting into the darkness around the fire.

* * *

Takamichi followed Roach closely as the former carefully made his way through the thick forest later that morning. He wished the man would use the machete mounted on his back to hack a path through the foliage. Roach being significantly larger could brush aside branches with ease but as he moved on they would snap back on Takamichi, much to his growing irritation. Sunlight shined through the forest canopy above, appearing like laser beams cutting through the air. Finally Roach stopped when they reached a very thorny mass of bushes. Takamichi halted too when he saw him hold up a fist.

"Ok, here's my OP. I'm going inside to get back my camera. If you don't want to follow me, hide somewhere. If anything comes don't bother trying to warn me, I'll know," said Roach, slinging his rifle over his back and crouching low. "Oh and don't forget what I told you."

Takamichi nodded and recited, "Don't run away, stay close and no loud noises. Yeah."

"I'll be back soon." With that, Roach slowly crawled into the bushes, using his hands and arms to brush aside the thorn studded branches in front of him.

Takamichi waited and wondered why Roach intended to hide in such discomfort for an entire night. Roach had reached the camera he'd set up the previous evening in the OP. It consisted of a small camera mounted on a short tripod which was secured with stakes in the legs. Roach had set it up so it was at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the bridge. He could hear the pounding of water against the cliff face below. The camera was pointed squarely at the west end of the bridge which was just taken by Imperial forces. The facility was gargantuan, stretching several kilometres into the distance and appearing to divide the sea below. Incongruously it was a relatively mere one hundred metres across. That was enough to accommodate roads, supply depots, barracks, aeropads and other facilities. In the aftermath of the battle most of these were already destroyed by standoff spells and missiles from the Imperial forces. The defensive turrets and bunkers were all destroyed too. The loss of this fortress was a major strategic blow to the Confederacy.

Through his binoculars, Roach could see prisoners being rounded up by the Imperials. From the looks of it some of them were refugees but the majority were in undergarments. That meant they were Megalosembrian soldiers stripped of their armour. They were all escorted into prisoner confinement fields generated from portable charms. Meanwhile Hellian engineering crews were hastily erecting prefabricated facilities stored in temporary dimensions. Soldiers were being marshalled into search and destroy parties, possibly with the intention to flush out remnants of the defenders or special forces units in the area.

Units like him. This would be Roach's second mission with Task Force 141 and his first solo until recently. His first was to help Captain MacTavish to recover the ACS (Attack Characterisation System) module from a crashed Megalosembrian satellite deep within Hellas had gone off without a hitch. The only problem was that they were too late to prevent the Imperials from hacking the device, allowing them to get the jump on the Confederation. Meanwhile a newcomer to the Task Force, Joseph Allen, was thrown into a dangerous assignment the moment he'd entered the Magicus Mundus. He hadn't even had time to receive his callsign. Roach didn't know much about the mission for Joseph but suspected it had something to do with the recent Hellian gateport massacre. That had provoked Hellas into war with Megalosembria.

A sonic boom made him turn his attention to the sky. Dozens of Hellian cruisers and battleships, shaped like sharks and bristling with cannons and missiles and anti-ship torpedos maintained a holding pattern above the bridge. Smaller interceptors and fighters circled the capital ships of the Imperial battlegroup. Teleporting circles appeared on the ground, summoning reinforcements, vehicles and supplies. Obviously the bridge was a major stepping stone for the Hellains as they prepared to rip into the rest of the Confederation. At the behest of the Task Force's sponsor, General Shepherd of the Confederation military, Roach was sent at in with the 141 to help stymie the Imperial invasion.

When he checked the motion sensor next to the camera spike Roach frowned. Contacts were closing in on his and Takamichi's position. From his position, Takamichi could hear approaching footfalls and voices. From his hiding place in a tree he was well hidden. Looking back at the bushes Roach had disappeared, rustled for a moment before stopping. He held his breath as he saw the first Imperial soldier draw near.

Lying there in the bushes, Roach watched as the Imperial soldier ambled into the clearing. He couldn't see where Takamichi was but it was obvious the boy had found a good hiding place. As he waited, ignoring the pain as the thorns dug into his skin, the soldier was joined by four more of his comrades. The squad seemed fairly at ease. Except for the squad leader, a sergeant as denoted by his collar tabs, who had his combat staff out. Everyone else had theirs slung over their shoulders. At first they moved in a loose column before they fanned out around the bush.

Up in his hiding place, Takamichi did a quick count before turning around to check for more. Fortunately there wasn't so it must be a patrol he thought. From his perch in the branches he felt the bark beneath his shoes slipping. Quickly he reached for a higher branch and pulled himself up a level as quietly as possible. A few pieces of bark fell to the forest floor.

Roach held his breath as he saw the pieces fall, realising that the boy was up in that tree. Fortunately the soldiers all had their backs turned. The noise it made didn't escape notice by two of the men to the left of Roach's vision. The sergeant at that moment approached the bush and unzipped his trousers. The rest of that was burned Roach's memory and the cuts he suffered after crawling through the thorns. A minute later the sergeant moved away, following his comrades as they started to leave.

Takamichi grimaced in disgust as he witnessed the man relieve himself over Roach's hiding place. Turning his attention to the other soldiers, he was elated to see them leaving. Only two men were still close by, the sergeant and another soldier lingered behind the rest as they chattered. To his horror, the boy felt the branch he was sitting on crack.

Roach cursed his luck as the two men before him stopped as the noise reverberated throughout the forest. They both turned and moved over to the tree where they heard the crack. The sergeant already had his staff out and was covering the other man as he carefully unslung his staff. With their backs turned, Roach saw his chance and swung into action.

Takamichi held his breath as he saw one of the men looking directly up where he was hiding. If he wanted, he could jump down and knock him out immediately but the sergeant was nearby covering him. He'd only just begun to learn kankaho so he was nowhere near able to take them both on. He gave a quick, desperate glance at the bush.

Suddenly and silently Roach slid out with a combat knife in hand. Approaching the sergeant at a crouch Roach kicked one of the man's knees from behind before knocking him forward. With a hand over the hapless victim's mouth and with his knees pinning him down, Roach stuck the knife into his throat. Immediately, Roach released the hilt, leaving the blade in the dying man's throat and drew out his silenced Sig Sauer P226 pistol, pointing it at the other man's head and pulled the trigger. The second man only heard a thump and a muffled gurgle as he spotted Takamichi up in the branches, gazing at something in horrified fascination. The soldier opened his mouth but a bullet came out before any words could.

Both Imperials were down in three seconds. Takamichi remained transfixed as he watched Roach holster his pistol and wipe the knife clean on the uniform of the man at his feet. The grass surrounding both corpses was gradually turning an ugly red brown colour. Looking up at Takamichi, Roach motioned for him to stay where he was. The boy fearfully nodded, unable to speak after witnessing the brutal killings.

Pressing himself up against a tree, Roach had his G3 rifle ready. The lethal, precise weapon was equipped with a foregrip, customised scope and magically rifled barrel. The suppressor on the barrel was invaluable to the mission too.

The other three soldiers then noticed the absence of their comrades. Concerned voices drifted back as they returned, weapons drawn. Crouching low, Roach turned the corner, aimed and fired a short three round burst. The victim's face exploded, sending the others scattering left and right. Instead of retreating, Roach rapidly moved to his left at a low crouch, intending to engage his target directly. As expected, the soldier's attention was drawn to the spot from which he though the shot was fired. Using the barrel of his rifle, Roach knocked the man's staff upwards, and then swatted him in the face to the right before striking him straight in the throat. The soldier fell, choking on a fractured larynx before passing out. He would shortly die of suffocation. Just then a bolt of ice whizzed right past Roach's face. The noise of that near miss was unusual and frightening. Missed bullets sounded like snapping twigs if they came close.

Bringing his rifle to bear he saw the last soldier waving his staff. Another ice shot forced Roach to roll away behind a tree stump. Peeking around he saw the man raise his gauntlet to his temple in order to use his telepathic link. Realising he needed to silence him, Roach took aim but the Hellian's staff was already pointed in his direction. Before he could fire, Roach was forced to duck from a volley of shots. There was an ear splitting explosion and suddenly the body of the last soldier was flung over his head. He hit the tree before Roach and fell headfirst; the weight of his body crushed the neck upon impact. Wiping his brow, Roach braced himself and pointed his gun only to see Takamichi standing there. Both of his hands were glowing and he quickly extinguished them by placing his hands in his pockets.

"Anyone else?" asked Roach, lowering the G3 and looking around.

"That was the last," said Takamichi, walking over, "Did I get him?"

Roach looked over at the last soldier who lay crumpled on the ground with his head hanging lopsidedly on his neck.

"He's out cold," he lied, wondering if the boy realised he'd killed someone, probably for the first time.

Takamichi let out a sigh and sat down on a log. Roach meanwhile policed the scene, picking up the squad sergeant's combat staff and destroying the rest. The telepathic communicators were located in the soldiers' helmets which were also disabled. Cleaning up the bloodstains was out of the question so the best he could do was to dump the bodies off the cliff into the churning waters below. Meanwhile Takamichi busied himself, sorting through the backpacks of the dead soldiers brought to him by Roach. He tried his best to ignore the sight of Roach bearing dead out of the corner of his eye.

"You ok kid?"

Takamichi jumped as soon as he heard this. Whipping around he saw Roach standing behind him, loading up several blue-tipped bullets into a magazine before snapping it back into his rifle.

"Uh yeah I'm fine," said Takamichi, turning around and zipping up the bag before him before standing up and facing Roach. "You smell awful."

Roach grimaced before answering, "Well, I'd gone without a shower for weeks before."

"Ok... So where do we go now?"

"Since you asked me to find your friend we'll move closer to the west end of the bridge. Fortunately I've got to go there too."

* * *

It was about midday when they reached Roach's next waypoint which was another cliff edge. Across from where Roach and Takamichi stood they could just see the figures of Hellian soldiers patrolling on the surface of the bridge. A line of prisoners in a clearing drew their attention.

"I don't like the look of that," said Takamichi.

"No shit," muttered Roach before quickly adding, "Pardon me."

The boy ignored this as he held a pair of magnification spectacles, taken from their earlier encounter with the Imperial squad. From the looks of it the prisoners were all male. Most were Megalosembrian soldiers as seen by their state of undress but some were also clearly refugees. All of them were clearly tortured as seen with their bruises, bleeding cuts, burns and welts.

"Damn... Ghost was serious when he said this was going to get bloody," Roach murmured, peering through his binoculars.

On the bridge the prisoners were lined at the very edge. Facing them as an equal number of Imperial soldiers with their staves drawn.

"Shit." Roach quickly covered Takamichi's eyes. A few seconds later the cracking noises of the volley reached them.

"No... What are they doing?" cried Takamichi, seeing the prisoners gone once Roach had moved his hand away.

"The Imperials getting their revenge mate."

Roach was checking his watch. Five minutes before the first assault and fifteen before the final assault. The former would be carried out by the Task Force but they had no idea who's leading the second attack. All they knew was that there weren't any significant Megalosembrian forces within range. He looked back at the bridge where the activity from earlier in the morning had diminished significantly. The majority of the troops had moved to the frontlines, leaving the support personnel and engineers to be protected by a light detail of sentries.

"Roach, you there?" A cockney voice sounded in his earpiece.

"I read you Ghost," he answered. "You tapped their surveillance feeds yet?"

"Done and we're in luck. Hostages are being held on the tenth level. Fifty metres away from where the bridge terminates on the west," said Ghost, "They're being held in a room just adjacent to the edge on your side. We attack in three minutes."

"Got it. Roach out," he said, shrugging off his bergen.

The crossbow came out of the bergen and unfolded itself with a wicked snapping noise.

"Whoa..." Takamichi's mouth opened in awe as he watched Roach pulled back the bowstring.

He fished into his webbing and pulled out a crossbow bolt which he loaded into the stock.

"What are you doing?" asked the boy, fascinated.

"I'm going to shoot an telepatica beacon to mark the location of the hostages," said Roach as he attached a scope and laser pointer onto the crossbow.

"Why?"

"It's for the second assault," he replied, taking aim. "As soon as this bolt embeds itself the telepathic beacon within the shaft will activate. It's calibrated so any attacker will avoid firing upon it."

"Uh huh..."

Roach pulled the trigger. With a whisper, the bolt was propelled through the air until it struck the side of the bridge two seconds later. Unfortunately it didn't stick. The bolt just bounced off the concrete and fell into the water.

"Bugger... should have known the surface was shielded," Roach cursed. "And I don't have any more bolts like these."

"Now what?" Takamichi asked in a disappointed voice.

"I'll have to plant the beacon inside manually," said Roach, getting up and grabbing the boy's hand before rushing off down a slope.

"Wait where are we going?" a startled Takamichi asked as the gradient increased steeply and they both slid the remaining thirty metres to the ground.

The both found themselves on another cliff much closer to the edge of the bridge. Just then there was the sound of explosions above followed by gunfire.

"What's going on?" asked Takamichi, whirling around.

"My colleagues have begun their attack," said Roach, pulling out his binoculars and scanning the side of the bridge.

He saw a catwalk intended for maintainence workers. Fortunately no one appeared to be guarding it. Nearby there was an emergency exit door. The catwalk and the stairs led downwards to reach land. Roach estimated it would take longer than fifteen minutes to get to the door and plant the beacon near where the hostages were located inside.

Suddenly Takamichi gasped loudly. "G-Gateau?"

He was staring through the magnifying spectacles at the window. Roach looked through the scope of his crossbow. Inside there was a man in a gray suit tied to a chair. His hair matched his clothes too. Another man moved into view, obviously an interrogator. Takamichi sucked in his breath as he saw the man lash out with a fist, hitting the restrained prisoner in the face. The boy then grabbed Roach by the arm.

"We've got to save him!"

"I know," said Roach, "I'm thinking."

His earpiece sounded again. "What's the holdup Roach? The second attack is in eight minutes!" Ghost shouted on the other end.

"I'm on it." Roach pulled out a bolt with a wire attached to the end and muttered an incantation. The end started to glow white.

"What did you do?" asked Takamichi.

"Gave it a penetration and anchoring charm," the soldier replied, loading it into the crossbow.

The other end of the wire he anchored into a sturdy tree behind them. He then slung his G3 over his back and then pulled out a Glock 18 pistol. The gun was modified with an extended magazine as well as a high explosive incendiary armour piercing enchantment on the bullets.

"Hold onto my shoulder tight," instructed Roach as he fired the bolt into the windowsill where the prisoner was being held.

Takamichi held on for dear life as he and Roach slid down the zip line. He sat on Roach's left shoulder while the soldier had his gun ready in his right hand.

"Hang in there!" shouted Roach as the wind tore at the two of them.

Takamichi shut his eyes, bracing for the impact as he saw the window closing in rapidly.

"_We're going to go splat_."

Ten metres away, Roach could see inside the window. The prisoner was clearly beaten badly. An ugly bruise covered one eye and blood was pouring out of multiple cuts all over his face. Another two men were present besides the interrogator; one stood by the door and the other was behind the prisoner. Roach noted their location as he affixed his attention upon the interrogator who advanced on the helpless prisoner with a knife. Roach then took aim with his pistol. The interrogator grabbed the prisoner's head with one hand and raised the knife.

Three metres away, Roach braced his legs and started firing. First to go down was the interrogator whose body fell as the glass shattered from the combined impact of the bullets and Roach's boots. Hitting the ground with both feet, Roach immediately fired at the soldier by the door who already had his staff out. The man twitched before the enchanted bullets tore him in half. As Roach did this, the prisoner sprung into action. The dead interrogator's knife flew into the air right in front of Gateau. Using ki in his right arm and magic in his left, he broke out of his handcuffs, snatched the knife in midair, whirled and stabbed it right in the chest of the man behind him. As Roach brought his gun around to bear he saw Gateau spinning the dying soldier around, putting his body between him and Roach's gun. Suddenly Roach saw the two of them approaching very quickly. He fired once, the bullet hit the soldier squarely in the back, blasting a bloody hole in the torso. Half a second later a ki laced punch struck him in the face.

When Roach came to, he found himself staring up at the end of a combat staff, held by the man who'd knocked him out. He now wore a pair of glasses. The two of them stared at each other for a second before Takamichi shouted.

"Wait! Gateau! He's friendly!"

"Huh?"

The staff in Roach's face wavered slightly as the man turned around to look at the boy standing beside them both.

"Roach is here to help!"

"Right..." Gateau quickly reversed the ends of the staff, allowing Roach to reach out and grab it.

Once Gateau had helped Roach to his feet they heard the blaring wail of an alarm before it cut out.

"What's that?" asked Takamichi.

"They're my guys," answered Roach before saying, "Look, there's no time to explain but I need to know where the hostages are!"

"This way," said Gateau, leading them out the door.

The three of them charged out into a corridor. Doors and corridors lined the sides while the lights above flickered. They went up a flight of steps before reaching a large steel door. Panicked voices could be faintly heard on the other side.

"Are we going to rescue them?" asked Gateau, "Well you're only one man."

"I'm going to do the next best thing," replied Roach, pulling out a small cylindrical object and affixing it to the door.

"The telepathica beacon?" asked Takamichi.

"You got it."

"You've got less than a minute before the next assault begins," said Ghost over the earpiece. "I don't know what's going to be in it but you need to clear out ASAP!"

"Rodger! How do we get out?" Roach asked the others.

"The door's locked!" Gateau shouted, vainly kicking at the emergency exit door.

An idea then came to Roach.

"Stand back!" he ordered, drawing his crossbow and loading a bolt.

"What are you-?"

The door exploded a second after the bolt struck. The catwalk behind suddenly tore away as an explosion lashed the bridge.

"Jump!"

The trio leapt out as a bolt of lightning from nowhere hit the bridge, pulverising the remnants of the hastily erected fortifications already destroyed by the Task Force. Men on the surface scattered from the secondary explosions but none of them were Task Force members. All except Roach had already retreated to a safe distance and were awaiting extraction.

Takamichi, Roach and Gateau hit the water and surfaced after half a minute of splashing and struggling against the waves. The boy turned and saw that Roach's boonie was gone and his facepaint had washed off. After seeing Roach's face completely for the first time, Takamichi turned his attention to the cliffs. It was as though his eyes were drawn there. Roach and Gateau looked too. Standing atop the cliff where Roach and Takamichi were earlier, there were five figures.

* * *

"Seems like someone's laid down the groundwork for us," commented Eishen Konoe. "Most of their defensive turrets were disabled."

"Wouldn't have mattered," said Jack Rakan with a shrug, "Isn't that right kid?"

He patted the head of the adolescent red haired boy standing next to him.

"Of course, let's dig in. Whoever did this didn't need to hog all the fun for themselves," replied Nagi Springfield.

"Before you go there appears to be a telepathica beacon within the confines of the bridge," said Filius Zect, "You'll do well to stay away from it."

"What do you guys sense?" asked Nagi.

"Its signal indicates the presence of hostages. Perhaps you should make them your top priority," suggested Albireo Imma.

"Ok Scissors, Paper, Rock? Hostage rescue's a pain in the neck for me." Rakan challenged Nagi.

"Same. You're on!"

By the second round, Eishun had lost patience.

"I'll take care of the hostages. You lot do what you do best!" he shouted, leaping into the air and drawing his sword.

* * *

"Are they who I think they are?" asked Takamichi in awe, staring as the figures swung into action.

"That's right. Ala Ruba," said Gateau.

"Did you see that Roa-?" Takamichi turned but Roach was nowhere to be seen.


	18. While Mahora Slumbered

**TF 141 members are magical to varying degrees. To all of them however, magic is used as a force multiplier or support measure in combat. **

**And yes, I did include some Black Ops elements in the previous chapter.  
**

* * *

Tonopah Test Range facility in Nevada was where the US Air Force carried out evaluations of prototypes and foreign aircraft. Also in the state of Nevada was Davis-Monthan AFB which hosted the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group was a gigantic facility, better known as the Boneyard. The Boneyard stored most of the retired, mothballed aircraft and missiles from the US Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. With the recent terrorist attacks in Las Vegas and on the Nevada Dam, most of the troops on guard duty at both bases were mobilised to assist the hunt for any remaining terrorists in the state. It wasn't expected that the enemy would be organised enough to launch another attack, especially since the ringleaders, Gabriel Nowak, Irena Morales and the Cabrero brothers were all dead.

The National Guard corporal shielded his eyes as he left the shade of the guard shack leading to the entrance to Tonopah. His subordinate, a private had stopped the line of humvees at the roadblock and was waiting there for him to arrive. As the corporal walked up he noticed that all the humvees were in near spotless condition save for a light coating of dust from driving through the desert. The next thing which was unusual was that all the windows were shielded so they were opaque. There were eight vehicles in the convoy; more than necessary for an inspection. All this made the corporal nervous so he snapped open the pistol holster at his waist. He nodded to the private who discreetly snapped off the safety on his M4 carbine. As the corporal approached the passenger door of the lead vehicle the window lowered.

"May I see some ID plea-?" The rest of the sentence was cut off when he saw the occupant.

There was a girl sitting in the passenger seat. What was even stranger was that she appeared to have small horns growing out of her long hair and she held a violin in his or her lap. Immediately the girl raised a bowstring to the musical instrument. Suddenly the corporal found himself blown back by a pressure wave, landing hard on his back ten metres away. He tried to get to his feet but found that his body was suddenly bound by what looked like vines. Another strand covered his mouth. He craned his neck and saw the private his gun before he suddenly violently twitched under a hail of gunfire. The doors on the first vehicle opened and several armed gunmen disembarked as well as the girl who attacked him. A second girl who had unusually elongated ears and shorter hair approached and stood over the corporal. A moment later one of the gunmen joined her, looking down at the corporal. He wore desert camouflaged battledress, helmet and balaclava except for his tactical vest, boots, gloves and knee and elbow guards which were all black. His eyes were covered by goggles. In his hands was a suppressed Fabrique Nationale FNC rifle. The corporal stared at them both fearfully as the girl and the gunman looked at each other and nodded. Suddenly the vine around his mouth loosened and he opened his mouth to shout. Even more unexpectedly the girl suddenly crouched and lowered her lips to his.

The Shadow commando didn't move as Shiori was suddenly engulfed in light after making contact. Once it dissipated, the corporal in full uniform appeared in front of him. The commando tilted his head in the direction of the base to the doppelganger. As Shiori went and walked through the open gate, followed by the convoy, the commando raised his gun and fired a burst into the unconscious corporal lying before him. The body was then dragged into the ground and buried by the vines.

* * *

At the Boneyard, the line of humvees at the gate was too stopped. However as two National Guardsmen approached; the hatch of the lead vehicle opened and someone jumped out. The girl somersaulted and landed, crouched on the ground in front of the vehicle with a pair of Kodachi swords drawn. The heads of the two men directly on either side of the humvee slid off and the bodies slumped over dead. The sergeant in the guard shack reached for the alarm but he was blown out the other side by a tongue of flame. Another girl got out of the humvee, her hand clutching a fireball. The gate opened and the convoy moved into the base. The badly burnt sergeant started to crawl away but suddenly a sword blade stuck into the ground in front of him.

"Going somewhere?" asked Tsukuyomi, giving him a chilling smirk and holding up her other sword. Smoothly she reversed the grip on the hilt and plunged the blade into the back of the neck of the helpless man.

"Was that really necessary?" asked Homura, walking up to her colleague.

"No witnesses remember?" replied the young Shinmei-ryu swordswoman, twirling her swords before sliding them back into their scabbards.

"Humph." The fire spirit wanted to say something more but decided against it; they had a timetable to keep to.

* * *

The fields of the Boneyard were packed with planes and helicopters of almost all sizes and makes. Some were nothing more than gutted hulks while others were still in near pristine condition. All the aircraft had their electronic components, engines, ejector seats and weapons removed and their fuel drained. There were also some aircraft hangers which held some of the more delicate or secretive planes.

A pair of maintenance workers ran up to a partially disassembled C-130 transport plane. Three Shadow commandos waited in the shadows inside the fuselage. Once they were close enough they opened fire, cutting down the unsuspecting men in volley of suppressed gunfire. Nearby the commandos swiftly and silently ran towards their objective, their suppressed FNCs making short work of all resistance. A squad of Guardsmen were pinned down behind a tarp covered Sea King helicopter. As reservists on a security assignment they lacked weapons such as grenade launchers, light machine guns or marksmen rifles which were always issued to frontline troops.

"Draw their fire to your side," ordered a lieutenant to two of his men. "Once you've got their attention we'll all make a break for those crates over there."

He pointed to the spot which stood a good way to the side from where the Shadow commandos were firing. If they could pull it off they would be in a good position to flank their attackers. The two men the lieutenant spoke to nodded and crouched by the nose of the Sea King, firing their weapons at the enemy, hoping to suppress them. Immediately they drew a volley of fire to their position. One of the men fired a burst which nailed a Shadow commando in the neck, felling him.

"On Three... Two... One...Go!"

The lieutenant and the other two men ran past the back of the helicopter while the other two men continued to fight. The three of them slid behind the large crate, panting.

One of them peeked over the edge and reported, "Looks like they haven't seen us yet."

"Good, let's go behind that wing now." The lieutenant pointed before keying his radio. "Stahl, Vale! You guys still good?"

"Vale here! Stahl's taken one to the shoulder. He's hurt bad but he can still fight!" reported the Guardsman over his earpiece.

"Ok. Hang in there!" said the lieutenant before saying, "Let's move."

The three of them broke cover again and made it behind the wing. Suddenly the fire tapered off. The lieutenant got on the line with the two by the Sea King again.

"What's going on there?" he asked worriedly, "You're supposed to keep them busy for longer than that."

All he could hear were screams and what sounded vaguely like animalistic roars. The lieutenant tensed, wondering what was happening before switching off.

"Dammit! Sounds like Stahl and Vale are in trouble. Too late to go back now. Let's take care of these guys first and then we'll go back for them. What do you see private?" he asked the man in front.

The private peeked around the corner quickly before saying, "Eyes on seven, all in a line and looking south-east where Stahl and Vale are."

The lieutenant opened his mouth but when he spoke his words sounded slurred, even to him. His men looked at him disbelievingly and tried to answer but they also experienced the same problem. There was a slow roaring noise which gradually increased in volume. The men tried to whip around but found they could only move at a snail's pace. One of them looked up and saw what appeared to be a large black cat-like creature approaching. Strangely enough it was wearing what appeared to be a dress. Its limbs seemed unusually long and its head seemed smaller in relation to its body in comparison to a feline. What was most concerning was that it was heading straight for them with its claws out. Everyone tried to raise their guns but found it seemed to take an eternity just to begin. The lieutenant saw it leap and realised it was headed straight for him. He opened his mouth to scream but he was cut off as the creature's paw swatted his face.

Like Shiori, Koyomi wasn't a killer by disposition but Fate-sama's orders were absolute and if it meant listening to someone else, then she would kill without hesitation. This time round however, she was glad that she was working alongside the Shadow commandos and Tsukuyomi who would wipe out everyone without hesitation; despite the fact that they both creeped her out immensely.

The Shinmei-ryu swordswoman would call out, "Hey Koyomi-chan, slow down a little. I have to pick up your slack and if you don't take your time with each victim you won't kill anyone today."

Tsukuyomi sounded like she didn't mind so the dilemma of killing had quickly become a moot point to the beast-girl. In any case the National Guard had never encountered anything like this before and most dropped their weapons in capitulation if they saw Koyomi coming. Not that it really helped them with Tsukuyomi and the Shadow commandos running around. If they resisted or didn't see her, Koyomi would knock them out often with the assistance of her time manipulating artefact. Again, Tsukuyomi and the commandos finished them off. They had an uncanny ability to tell if a person was dead, playing dead or unconscious.

Nearby, Homura had no such reservations shared by her comrade though she did her best to be easy on them. Even on low gear she could send tongues of flame twenty metres long and conjure decently sized fireballs. If necessary she could erect barriers of flame, either to block of access to the defenders, channel them into the paths of the commandos or block their bullets.

A truck stopped at the entrance of the aircraft hanger she was trying to reach. Troops immediately jumped out and began surrounding her while firing. Raising one hand, Homura erected a hot blue flame barrier, which was strong enough to melt the bullets as they came. She then gave the soldiers each a quick glance with her special pyrokinetic eye. Immediately each Guardsmens' tactical vest ignited. Although it wasn't a very strong fire it was enough to cook off the ammunition on each of them as well as their grenades. Homura quickly turned away from the bloody dismembered remains of the men she'd just killed. The truck driver started to reverse his vehicle. The fire spirit only had to look at the truck bonnet to overheat it. Realising this, the driver got out as the engine caught on fire. He didn't get far enough when the truck exploded. Shrapnel from the blast sliced through the unfortunate man, killing him before he hit the ground.

Using the tip of her finger like a thermal lance, Homura slowly sliced vertically through the aircraft hanger door. As the rest of the assault team formed up nearby, she reached out and slowly prised an opening before stepping through. Unexpectedly the part of the hanger door to their right suddenly screeched. The blades of two swords poked through before they started to carve out a hole, sending sparks flying. Tsukuyomi entered through the doorway she'd just cut.

"I'll stand guard here and let them do their work," said Homura to Tsukuyomi.

"You'll be alright here by yourself?" asked the swordswoman, turning her head around as she walked back through the hanger door.

"Yeah. If you're going out to kill some more don't go too far."

"It'll only be a few minutes."

As she left Homura called out, "And try not to get lost out there!"

The Shadow commandos entered and surrounded the sixteen EF-111A Raven electronic warfare planes, retired from the US Air Force. Teleporting circles appeared under each plane as the commandos took up defensive positions.

Just outside, Tsukuyomi spun her two Kodachi so fast in front of her the blades acted both as a mirror and a shield against the storm of bullets headed for her. One of the Guardsmen threw a flashbang. The light shone off the rapidly moving blades and reflected back into their eyes.

"Too easy!" The swordswoman dashed forward, slicing easily through the stunned troops.

One man advanced with a ballistic shield but Tsukuyomi easily speared him through the kevlar reinforced sheet metal. Placing her foot against the shield she wrenched out the blood soaked sword before throwing it backwards at a pair of troopers behind her. She followed this up with a cartwheel backwards with her other sword outstretched. The thrown sword impaled the first man right through his tactical vest. Tsukuyomi landed behind the second man and brought her sword down on his helmeted head, splitting it open like a rotten fruit.

* * *

The girl with the artefact violin, Shirabe stood in the hatch of the lead humvee which lead the assault. With her artefact, she generated a devastating sonic blast which tipped over a National Guard humvee which had turned the corner to intercept them. By playing the appropriate notes she could generate high or low pitched soundwaves which could either disorient and incapacitate the enemy or kill outright. At the extremes she could easily slice through concrete and knock down buildings. Token resistance was offered by the few USAF Security Forces guards and the National Guard troops who were quickly incapacitated by Shirable's artefact and eliminated by the commandos

She disembarked as soon as she'd reached one of the main administrative buildings, followed by a squad of commandos. As they took position by the windows and doors; Shiori who was still disguised, joined Shirabe at the main entrance. Shiori looked at the commando leader who stood by the door and signalled her readiness. With that, Shirabe raised her artefact and began playing. The door burst open violently, flying off its hinges. The National Guardsmen on the other side were expecting a breaching charge or something similar so they immediately chucked flashbangs. What they didn't anticipate was the soundwave which hit them. The flashbangs detonated before they crossed the threshold. The commandos in the front door didn't even need to use their own as they stormed in, mowing down the hapless troops as they fired wildly and desperately. Meanwhile the other commandos entered the building from multiple points via conventional means, cutting off all escapes.

Shiori led the way cautiously into the depths of the building, followed by Shirabe and the same squad they entered with. As the rest of the building was secured, Shiori who possessed the knowledge and memory of the corporal knew where the duty officer was. She stopped outside the office; its windows were covered with blinds but that didn't mean they could be seen. Everyone except for the two girls dropped to a crouch and stacked up near the doors. The commando attempted to slip a snake cam through the door but found it was barricaded off.

"The colonel in charge must live if I am to obtain the access codes from him," whispered Shiori to Shirabe and the commando leader, "He also knows where our objectives are being stored whereas I only have a general idea. Tell the recovery teams to stand by."

As the leader relayed the orders, Shirabe asked, "You reckon the guy will off himself? I mean he's probably expecting to be interrogated."

"We can't allow that to happen which is why we cannot risk a breaching charge to break down the barricade behind the door. Entry via the windows will get us killed since the occupants are likely covering them. We only have five minutes before the first response units arrive," said the leader in a harsh, deep electronic voice which made both girls uneasy.

"I can use my artefact to stun them and break the windows. I only have a narrow frequency range between breaking the glass and killing them," said Shirabe, "But I need to concentrate."

"Alright, we'll run with that then," said Shiori.

"Ready when you are," the leader joined in.

Shirabe pulled out her bowstring again and motioned for everyone to get clear before she started playing. A haunting noise emanated from the artefact as she played, becoming progressively high pitched. She then started to up the amplitude so the loudness steadily grew. Everyone wore earplugs just in case but Shirabe concentrated the pressure wave onto the office and its windows. Even through the plugs the attenuated melody could be heard loudly. The glass was visibly vibrating before all the panes shattered simultaneously. In an instant, the commandos vaulted over the window sill. Inside were five Air Force Security guards, all lying on the ground screaming and thrashing about in agony. Blood leaked out from between the fingers of their hands which were clenched over their ears. It was both shocking and horrifying to the girls. Two of the men crouched over puddles of vomit while another had voided his bowels and bladder apparently. One had bitten off his tongue and was convulsing violently on the ground. Shirabe dropped her artefact and leaned against the wall, breathing hard before following the Shadow commando leader who ignored all this. With a dispassionate flick of his finger all five guards were put out of their misery with well placed shots between the eyes.

Once this was done the leader trod over to the corner where the duty officer was doubled over, holding a pistol in hand. Immediately Shirabe spotted the pot plant on the desk. With a thought, tendrils suddenly sprouted on the stem while all the other leaves and branches withered and rotted; sacrificed to provide the resources to grow the tendrils the girl was remotely growing and manipulating. Meanwhile all the nutrients contained in the soil in the pot were taken up rapidly by the roots. The tendrils immediately wrapped themselves around the officer's hand which held the gun. As he approached, the commando leader raised his FNC rifle and fired a single bullet into the restrained hand, knocking the pistol out. With one hand he grabbed the officer's jaw and jerked up his head so they saw eye to eye, or more like eye to goggle lens. The officer's eyes were almost completely filled with blood; the delicate vessels had broken thanks to Shirabe. He would have recovered from weeks of near blindness but he would never have that chance. The leader shifted his grip so he held the back of the man's head. Shiori stepped forward, the broken glass crunching underfoot before she used her artefact. Once her new disguise was assumed the leader stuck the barrel of the FNC into the officer's armpit and fired once, sending the bullet straight through his heart.

Shiori immediately went over to a computer terminal in the office and started typing in the commands she gleaned from the duty officer's memories. After that she placed her index thumb on the fingerprint scanner and peered into the retinal scanner. It took a few seconds for her to pass the biometric scans. Outside the doors on three of the high security hangers unlocked. All of the commandos immediately surrounded these hangers, waiting. However the heavy doors refused to open.

"What's going on?" asked the leader after hearing the latest report over his earpiece.

"They've locked it from the hard line. I'll need to run a bypass," answered Shiori, beginning to type again before an idea came to her. "Wait... We can bring in Tamaki-san."

"She's on backup duty remember?" said Shirabe.

"We're out of time. We need to get those doors open now!" said the commando leader, getting on the radio again. "Tamaki, head to these coordinates I'm transmitting to you."

* * *

The Shadow commandos had formed a perimeter around the entrance of the three hangers. All resistance from the base was mostly eliminated but reinforcements were due any moment. They arrived in the form of four Black Hawk helicopters, carrying a contingent from the USAF Security Forces Emergency Services Teams. The EST was essentially an elite SWAT unit, heavily armed and prepared to respond to threats against air force bases and nuclear missile silos. The helicopters flared and dropped ropes. The M240 machine guns in the doors opened fire, covering the EST men as they rappelled down onto the ground. As soon as they hit the ground they immediately opened fire, running from cover to cover and throwing smoke grenades. Standing in front of the hanger doors and with very little cover the Shadow commandos were quickly pinned and their line started to waver. One of them raised a Stinger missile to his shoulder but was quickly cut in half by a burst from a M240. Another commando tried to pick it up but was downed in the crossfire as the EST troops concentrated on him.

Suddenly there was a roar which shook the pavement. Everyone looked up as a winged creature approached from the midday sun. Suddenly the battlefield became oddly quiet. As the creature came closer and details could be made out, someone shouted, "What the f*ck is that!" Immediately the ESTs opened fire but Tamaki in her dragon form was too quick; diving and weaving through the storm of bullets. One of the men had a Stinger and tracked her across the sky. Being cold blooded, she gave off very little body heat, not enough even for the sensitive IR seeker on the missile. With a shriek, she slammed into the nearest Black Hawk whose gunners attempted to get a bead on her. The flying machines were a serious threat unlike the small arms fire from the ground. The helo was slammed violently into another and they both exploded in mid air, raining debris and fire on the ESTs below. The Shadow commandos took advantage of the distraction to flank and cut down the EST troops as they vainly fired upon Tamaki above. The beast-girl grabbed another Black Hawk by the tail rotor and spun around in a circle before releasing it. The flailing chopper spun away like a twig in the wind before it crashed into an electrical pylon. Tamaki sped away before turning and accelerating right over the last helicopter. Caught in the slipstream, the Black Hawk which hovered at a lower altitude was buffeted, so much so that its rotors hit a nearby tower. The chopper flailed and spun around so its tail rotor hit the tower, smashing it right off. The helicopter nosedived to the ground.

By then most of the ESTs were killed by the commandos. Tamaki swept down and grabbed two of the survivors before flinging them away. As she came around for another pass, one of the smarter men tossed a flashbang which successfully made her veer off at the last moment. This didn't save him from being gunned down however. With all resistance wiped out, Tamaki returned and grabbed onto the hanger door. Using her dragon strength she prised open the unlocked door. Once she was done she went onto the next unlocked hanger. Two teams followed her while one entered the open hanger. The Tonopah base was also the resting ground for America's F-117A Nighthawk stealth bombers. Inside were three, all gutted of their engines and electronics. Most importantly the fuselage of each was intact.

* * *

South in the state of Arizona, the stolen EF-111A Ravens and F-117A Nighthawks were teleported into a prefabricated hanger. All the stolen planes would be retrofitted with magical and non-magical components. The latter was thanks to the terabytes of stolen data Bastian de Kere bought from Nowak after he and Irena Morales successfully raided a NATO weapons lab below Nevada dam. It was a risky move erecting such buildings in the middle of the Mojave Desert since US spy satellites were concentrated in that region. It was about thirty minutes before the next pass. By then the planes would have to be teleported to another secure location far away, but not so far as it can generate an atmospheric mana flux which can be detected by mages. Temperatures in the desert could reach 50 degrees Celsius in summer which was also why it was important to move the planes as soon as possible.

Bastain de Kere stood in the shade of the hanger as the teleporting circles around each plane faded away. At forty five his hair had started going gray around the edges but a return to the rigours of military service had kept him in shape, along with some cosmetic magical therapy. Once the last plane had arrived he turned and left the hanger, braving the twenty second jog across scrub, sand and blazing sun to reach a large trailer. On its side was a logo, consisting of a rook chess piece and lightning bolts. He pulled open the door and felt a wondrously refreshing breeze almost push him back down the steps before he entered and shut the door. The trailer's air conditioner had run continuously through the morning, not only to keep the occupants cool but also the banks of computers which took half the space inside. De Kere's staff, not semi-demon Shadow commandos, worked at the terminals, some of them monitoring both magic and non-magic authorities. The work area reeked with human body odour, deodorant, coffee and stale food. The floor there was sticky with spilled drinks and crunched underfoot from fast food containers.

Seated uncomfortably side by side on a sofa in the living section were Tsukuyomi, Shirabe, Homura, Tamaki, Koyomi and Shiori in her natural guise. They all looked up as de Kere walked past them into the small kitchenette.

As he did so he said, "So you were successful. I see that Averruncus chose his subordinates well."

Some of the girls bristled at being regarded as mere subordinates to Fate, particularly Koyomi who stifled a hiss. Tsukuyomi merely giggled at this. De Kere pulled out a tray of bottled mineral water from the fridge and placed it on the coffee table in front of the sofa. None of the girls save for Tsukoyomi decided to take a drink.

"In any case I'm convinced that your abilities will be a worthy investment of my trust," he continued, picking up a bottle. "This was as much a test of proof of concept as much as it was an important step in our common goals."

No answer, only quiet contempt or resentment. De Kere wasn't sure which but he went of regardless. "This goes to show that we can continue to do business together."

He raised his bottle as a solitary toast. Clearly the girls weren't in a talking mood. For a moment no one said anything before Homura looked at the clock on the wall.

"It looks like our time's up."

"True. Fate-sama said we must meet up with him as soon as this operation's complete," said Tamaki.

"Do as you please. The nearest gateport is at Area 51 if you're interested," said de Kere, turning away as a magical circle appeared below the feet of each girl. There was a flash of light and De Kere turned around to see the sofa empty. There was a knock behind him.

"Yeah?" He twisted around to see one of his aides standing in the corridor.

"Sorry to interrupt. But something's come up."

"Go on." De Kere collapsed back onto the sofa while the aide pulled up a chair.

"The Task Force hit us again. An ITRAD convoy. They got away with almost the entire shipment of small arms, crate of Hellfire missiles and a prefab Black Hawk in dimensional storage."

De Kere gulped down some more water and wiped his mouth. "Unacceptable. What does Burnett know?"

"What we told the media. That it was carrying forestry equipment."

"He'll catch on eventually. Hopefully we won't need to push forward our timetable. Fate can be so inflexible sometimes," De Kere muttered, leaning back. "Did we get any of the Task Force members? Oh wait. Let me guess. We didn't. Like the last fifteen times?"

The aide looked a little relieved at this and said, "Well something else has come up. Something which may give us the leverage to break the Task Force."

"I'm listening." De Kere didn't look like he was, slumped on the couch and staring at the ceiling.

"Well our man in Kanto sent us this." The aide held up a printed email and passed it to de Kere.

Outwardly he didn't register surprise but he held his breath until he reread the document again.

"So it was the Thousand Master's doing after all."

"Can our assest confirm this personally?"

"He said he will at his earliest convenience. He recommends immediate action before the summer vacation begins in Japan."

"Well..."

De Kere wasn't sure for once. Normally he demanded a firsthand account from a reliable source for particularly sensitive or dangerous information. However this was too good an opportunity to pass up. He had personally confirmed the death of every Task Force member ever since that meeting of with the Life Maker twenty five years ago. With this he could flush out the rest of the elusive Task Force.

He got up and walked through the trailer into the planning room. It consisted of a foldable planning table, ringed with chairs. The wall which wasn't covered with computers consisted of a corkboard filled with notes and maps. De Kere stood by a Perspex drawing board which could be unfolded from the ceiling. With a sharp whistle everyone crowed into the room, the first took seats around the table while the latecomers stood. He looked around at his staff. Most of them looked like they'd slept in their clothes, which were already stained around the armpits and collars. Here the miasma of sweat, deodorant and coffee was most overpowering. He resisted the urge to cough as he began his briefing.

"Listen up boys and girls. We've got word that three HVTs (High Value Targets) have surfaced here." He picked up a pen and circled Japan on the world map. The location is Mahora Academy."

He looked around at the team surrounding him before he walked over to the corkboard. He circled three identities on a chart with the title TF 141. They were Ghost, Roach and Joseph Allen. There were nods of comprehension and excited murmurs around the cramped room.

"With these three in custody we can force a concession out of Task Force 141. A negotiated settlement for their safe return to this world." He gave them a smirk. Of course he had no intention of letting the Task Force live. He did pledge to destroy them twenty five years ago.

"Now we need to hit the ground running as soon as we set foot in Japan." He went on. "We need to make contact with our man in Kanto. Other than him our HUMINT assests in the immediate area is nil. Am I right?"

A few voices confirmed that.

"Ok, too late to rectify that now. I want at least three teams ready by the time we're all in Japan. Alpha team will pull up all available intel on the school and distribute it to the other teams. By that I mean building schematics, staff and student numbers and profiles and infrastructure. Put together something about the context of the Academy, history, politics between the magical associations. Then I want an assessment on their capabilities and..."

He spoke quickly as everyone took notes. Normally he would have formed the teams himself and briefed them each privately for operational security reasons.

"Bravo is in charge of surveillance. With the school term about to end the students' routines will likely become randomised. Observe, orient and act..."

While de Kere gave his orders, neither he nor the others noticed as the trailer started moving. He was well into assigning Foxtrot team with designing a building assault template for the school by the time the trailer had pulled onto a highway heading west. Behind them the hanger containing the aircraft shimmered in the heat like a mirage before it disappeared into thin air.

**

* * *

I'm unsure whether Fate's minions can operate outside of the Magical world. HUMINT stands for HUMan INTelligence. **


	19. Kindred Spirits

**I know that this fic is Harem-Comedy and Shonen (Negima) mixed with Military Thriller (Call of Duty) so I'd imagine it'd be a little difficult to keep up. I'm trying my best to introduce a Call of Duty style OC antagonist into the Negima universe but I don't want to make Bastian de Kere into a Villain Sue. Any criticisms or suggestions are welcome. **

**The part about Fate's minions in the last chapter teleporting away was laziness on my part. Also, thanks to Tiresias-135 for answering that question I asked. As a result, I've changed a bit of dialogue in the end to rectify both issues. Also another correction: The mole or insider mentioned by de Kere was supposed to be from the Kanto Mage Organisation which the Dean belongs to. **

_

* * *

Get up Private Allen! Rangers lead the way! Move_!

Joseph's cranium hit the ground painfully, coaxing a groan and curse as he raised his hands to his eyes, shielding them from the morning sun.

"About time," said Gary, standing near the windows with a hand on the curtains.

Joseph rubbed his eyes and crawled out from under his bedsheets on the floor. He realised Gary was in the male school uniform for Mahora Academy. The fresh bandages on his arm were in full view since he wore a white short sleeved shirt with a tie under a maroon vest.

"Come on, it is 0630 now. I let you slumber too long." Joseph only saw a pair of well shined black leather dress shoes before he slowly looked up to see Simon standing over him with his sunglasses perched on his forehead. Unlike Gary he wore a maroon blazer but forewent the tie, leaving his shirt unbuttoned at the collar.

"Huh? Class isn't due yet," he grumbled, reaching for the pillow which was still on his bed and burying his face firmly into it.

"Told you this was a bad idea," said Gary, walking into the bathroom.

Meanwhile Simon turned Joseph's prostrate form over with a foot and then delivered a light kick to the peroneal nerve on the back of his right thigh, close to the knee.

"Goddamit! What the hell? How can I get up now?" spluttered Joseph, gripping his paralysed right leg and rolling about on the ground.

"On your feet!" barked Simon. He grabbed him under the arm and pulled him to his feet before grabbing him again as Joseph stumbled over.

"You got your bag packed for class today?" asked Gary, through a mouthful of toothpaste, "Simon and I packed ours just before we woke you."

"Ugh. Yeah," answered Joseph, struggling to put on his trousers with his useless leg which was slowly regaining sensation. "I did it last night."

"Smart. Did you shine your shoes though?" asked Simon, opening the fridge door.

"Not yet."

Gary sighed as he left the bathroom, wiping his face. "I'll get the shoe polish out. You owe me one for this Joe."

As he did so, Joseph limped over to the counter, pulling on a long sleeved white shirt and putting on a tie. Simon joined him on the other side, plonking down a carton of orange juice and two glasses before ripping open a cold packet of wieners; both straight out of the fridge. Joseph's face contorted in disgust as he watched his roommate down a string of them.

"How will you ever score girls with manners like those?" he asked, pouring himself a glass.

Simon swallowed, wiped his mouth and hiccupped before answering, "I'm not aiming for that. This thing with Yuna will be over before you know it." He hiccupped again and retorted, "Oh and I heard from Asakura-san that you refused to disclose your relationship status."

"Yeah, that's right. I made sure of that on my Facebook page too. And that's none of your business." Joseph tried to stand but fell sideways off the stool while Simon chuckled.

"Speaking of GFs. That reminded me I gotta send mail to Sherri," Gary called out.

He rushed over went over to his futon on the other side of the bunk beds used by his roommates and then slid back and dropped a pair of black shoes on top of Joseph who was on all fours.

"There you go, all nice and shiny just like mine," he said, going back and pulling his laptop out of his satchel before sitting down and proceeding to type.

"You never told us you had a girlfriend," said Simon in an accusatory tone as he shouldered his backpack and helped Joseph up again.

"Well I only just got to know you guys so I wasn't exactly going to spill my heart out on Day 1," Gary retorted before muttering, "Shit, she's totally going to go ballistic now. No contact since last Friday."

"Why? This Sherri of yours is going to go mad over something like that?" Joseph wondered aloud.

"Considering how things were going back in England before I left that might just be the case," Gary replied, sweating slightly as he typed feverishly. The stitched up gash in his arm was healing and the swelling from the cellulitis infection had settled but it still hurt with every keystroke. "And since you had to ask such a question I think that confirms that you never had a girlfriend."

Joseph flushed but he ignored it as he followed Simon to the door.

* * *

Outside the sun was well and truly up although the school was still very quiet. The three boys tiptoed out of the dorms although they could hear the muffled ringing and buzzing of alarm clocks as they passed each room. Still, it would be a while before everyone would be up. As they headed up the stairs for the main school building they saw a familiar figure approaching.

"Morning Asuna-san," the boys called out as the girl passed on her morning paper run.

Asuna who was carrying a bulky satchel looked at them strangely before returning the greeting and saying, "You three are up early. What's going on?"

Gary and Joseph pointed to Simon who shrugged and replied, "It's a habit I'm introducing to them." He pointed to her satchel. "Paper deliveries?"

"Yeah, I'm more than halfway done. I thought I was the only one up at this hour," said Asuna, dropping her satchel and stretching.

"Apparently not. It was seven in the morning about fifteen minutes ago," said Gary, checking his watch.

Asuna sucked in her breath and said, "Argh, I'm falling behind. I've got to finish my route, get back to my dorm and pack my stuff before class begins."

"See you later then," the boys called as she rushed off.

Inside they ran into Shizuna as she was unlocking the staffroom door.

"Simon, Joseph, Gary-kun? What are you doing in here so early?" She almost dropped her mug of coffee.

"He woke us, don't ask," answered Joseph, rubbing his eyes and pointing to Simon.

"Well, Reilly-san really shouldn't have," she said sternly, "Have you considered how Gary-kun's arm is still healing and he still needs his rest?"

After chewing the three of them out for five minutes Shizuna asked Gary, "Did you take your pills last night and this morning?"

"Yes I have," he answered contritely.

The nurse gave him an approving smile before saying, "Make sure you finish the course. You're lucky that arm of yours only had mild cellulitis. Next time please make sure you don't allow others to drag you around." She looked pointedly at Simon.

Relieved, the boys resumed walking before Shizuna poked her head out the door and called out, "You had might as well set out all the desks and chairs once you get there. The girls stack them at the end of class every Friday."

* * *

Sayo was startled out of her slumber by the clatter of footsteps on the hallway outside. Raising her head off her desk she blinked and looked up at the clock above the whiteboard.

"_That's strange. I thought the cleaners had gone been through here yesterday. There shouldn't be anyone coming to class this early, it's 7.15 in the morning for crying out loud_," she thought, glancing at the clock before stretching her arms and floating to the opposite wall.

She put her ear to the wall but then realised that since she was a ghost, she could simply pass right through.

"Silly me," she berated herself in an amused voice, though no one could hear her.

To her surprise she saw Gary, Simon and Joseph walking side by side, coming right at her. The three of them shivered as the air grew colder the closer they were to the ghost. Sayo stumbled back as the two Brits neared and passed right through her.

* * *

An image of a man in military uniform and a beret suddenly formed in her mind. In one hand he had a pistol which was pointed just below her neck. Strangely enough he wasn't looking at her; in fact she stood to his side. Out of the corner of her eye she looked where the man was looking and could see a body sprawled on the ground. The face, though partly covered with goggles was familiar. The gun fired. She blinked and this time she was on her back. It felt like she was lying in a large puddle of liquid... but it wasn't her body. Standing in front of her was that same man again. This time he was smoking a cigar, breathing out smoke as he watched her. Sayo looked down and saw the bloody hole in her chest. Something large splashed right next to her. She saw another man, dressed in bloody military fatigues rolling over. It didn't look like he was alive even though his face was completely hidden by a skull patterned balaclava and a pair of red sunglasses. Somehow she had a feeling she knew that person. She looked back at the man in the beret, just to see him flick the lit cigar at her. In an instant she was covered in flames.

_Ghost! Come in, this is Price! We're under attack by Shepherd's men at the boneyard! Soap, hold the left flank! Do not trust Shepherd! I say again, do not trust Shepherd! Soap, get down! _

As the pain and heat built up she tried to scream and struggle but found she couldn't. It was then she realised that she was wearing goggles over her eyes. As they slowly began to fog up she watched the man as he turned, raised his arm and waved his finger around in a circle. Everything went black for a second before she regained vision. Two blurry figures materialised, hovering in the air above. They both dropped to the ground nearby. The flames engulfing her were extinguished as they ran over.

_You're going to be alright my friend! Eishun, see to the other one!_

Her vision cleared as she saw the face of the young man who was leaning over and providing first aid. He had red hair and a very familiar face.

* * *

Sayo blinked again and there she was gasping and floating on her back a few centimetres above the ground. She stopped, sat up and heard two voices coughing. Behind her, Gary and Simon were doubled over, holding their throats and struggling to breath.

"_What on Earth was that? The first guy who was shot looked like Gary. Who was the shooter? Shepherd? Who are Price, Soap and Eishun? That last man who was trying to help looked almost like Negi._"

Joseph jumped at foot at the noise and whipped around. For a second he thought he saw a girl sitting in the corridor behind them. Sayo cowered when she saw the American stare right through her.

The person whoever she was suddenly disappeared in a blink. Joseph shook his head and turned back to see that the two Brits had stopped coughing.

"Did you hear that?" he asked incredulously.

"Did you feel that? It felt like water was filling my lungs," Simon ignored him, wiping his mouth and straightening up.

"What?" Joseph looked scared as he walked back down the hall and stood where Sayo was.

"Yeah, felt like I was drowning just then," said Gary, leaning against the wall and rubbing his eyes. "I saw water... lots of it... like I was underwater."

"Hey!" The American gestured around the corridor. "As you can see we're all well above sea level. Are you sure you guys didn't hear anything or see anything?"

There was a short silence before Simon said, "No... We just... Oh nevermind."

"Whatever..." Joseph sighed. Clearly they were too busy coughing to have heard the frightening disembodied gasp.

"What's wrong? You look like you saw a ghost," said Gary as he pushed open the classroom door.

Above them, Sayo was watching and listening. Clearly it was Simon and Gary who'd just touched her. What did those visions she'd just experienced, she wondered. It felt like she possessed a person. Just as curious was the reaction from the boys. The two who'd touched her seemed to have experienced the same thing: drowning. Sayo frowned but couldn't think of anything. Next was how she inadvertently revealed herself. She didn't touch Joseph but for a second he was able to hear and see her. Maybe it was because she touched the other two? She gave those problems some hard thought as she followed the trio.

The classroom was mostly clear except for the back in which all the desks were piled neatly on top of each other in one corner. In the other was where all the chairs were stacked. The teacher's or Negi's desk which was too large to move remained at the front of the room. The scent of carpet cleaner lingered in the air, trapped by the closed and curtained windows.

Sayo looked on as the boys started pulling and tying up the curtains before opening the windows. Normally it was Ayaka who was the earliest, at least since Negi arrived. She would come in and prepare the room before spraying air freshener in the vicinity of her and Negi's desks. To top it off she would leave a large, spotless red or green apple on the former's desk. Sometimes Nodoka, accompanied by a very insistent Yue, left a bottle of juice first, much to the chagrin of the class president.

"_Either of them should be here any minute now_," thought the ghost as she watched Joseph approach the stacked desks while the others worked on the chairs.

"So... What happened between you and Sherri back in England?" Simon questioned Gary.

Gary immediately snapped, "I don't want to talk about it. I thought I told you."

"Interesting. Kazumi-san might want to hear this," thought Sayo, perking up her ears. "_Note: Gary has problems with a person called Sherri, potentially his girlfriend_."

Pounding footsteps could be heard outside, making everyone in the room stop what they were doing. As the noises neared the door they turned into scuffles. A moment later the door burst open and in stumbled Ayaka, Nodoka and Yue. A bright green apple and a bottle of lemon-carrot juice rolled out from under the prostrate trio. Immediately the class president and the Black Baka Ranger were on their feet.

"What was your hurry? Running in the corridors like that isn't allowed," huffed Ayaka, looking down at Yue who shot back, "You're one to talk Incho-san."

"Uh..." Nodoka tapped both girls on their shoulders before Ayaka could answer.

"What?" The three of them looked up to see the three boys Sayo looking at them strangely though no one could see the ghost girl at the moment.

"Umm, morning," Joseph called out.

The girls shot to their feet and returned the greeting before an awkward silence ensued.

"Looks like we're all early today," said Gary.

Ayaka and Nodoka looked down at the apple and bottle on the floor, then Negi's desk before they both grabbed their respective items. The latter was closer to the desk but Ayaka had height as they both dived for it. Yue cried out in surprise as both the apple and the bottle hit the surface at the same time. The boys looked on at the awkward display.

"I never thought I'd see the day when people would actually compete to be the teacher's pet," commented Simon dryly.

"That's because you said your old school was a dump," said Joseph, taking his hands out of his pocket and checking his watch.

Ayaka and Nodoka meanwhile backed away from the desk, watching the apple and the bottle as though one would knock the other off. Yue turned to the boys and was opening her mouth to explain when she was cut off by the sound of applause. Standing in the doorway were Haruna and Kazumi. At their feet were several large plastic bags.

"I see that we weren't the only ones up this early," said Kazumi, following the mangaka inside.

Their faces fell when they caught sight of the boys.

"What? You two are too early!" exclaimed Haruna, pointing at them.

"Seriously, did someone tell you?" Kazumi demanded to know, dropping her bags and glaring at the other girls in the room including Sayo.

"I haven't a clue what you're on about." answered Gary, placatingly while the other two looked just as puzzled as he was.

"Ohhh." The other girls all nodded in comprehension before emphatically shaking their heads.

"Hmm." Haruna and Kazumi rubbed their chins and scrutinised the boys' faces before coming to a conclusion. "Ok... we believe you. Now we need you to leave the room."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Were we too early?"

"You asked for it." Haruna and Kazumi started unbuttoning their shirts.

"Surely you can't be serious." A second later the boys all piled out the door.

"I am serious... and don't call me Shirley," said Kazumi, sticking her head out the door before slamming it shut.

"What was that about?" asked Joseph, dusting himself off.

"Looked like they were changing," said Simon, standing up.

"Why? They were already in school uniform," said Gary.

"Well, nothing else to do until they're done," said Joseph while leaned against the door and waited. Gary and Simon joined him. They didn't know how long it would take.

Inside, Haruna gathered everyone in the room, saying, "Alright, we need this room set up for our Welcoming Party for the boys. Let's see if we can get this done by eight."

* * *

Meanwhile on the other side of the globe, Nekane Springfield rode a bicycle down a dark country path back to her home village. The sky was clear after an afternoon thunderstorm so the moon was clearly visible, illuminating the path and the open pastures all around her. Being magically capable she could deal with any assailants easily but she kept her eyes and ears open. A car overtook her, blinking its lights on and off for a second to warn her of its approach. As it sped into the darkness its headlights revealed a solitary figure standing by the roadside. As Nekane rode closer she saw the figure raise his or her arm. Cautiously she stopped her bike a safe distance away and flicked on the torch velcroed to the side of her helmet.

To her surprise the person wore a US Army combat uniform, complete with helmet and outer tactical vest with a gray balaclava over his face and had a pair of sunglasses hanging around his neck. He flipped up the nightvision goggles attached to his MICH helmet as the light shone on his eyes.

"Can I help you?" Nekane called out.

"Good evening ma'am," the man replied, "I'm Private James Ramirez of the 75th US Army Ranger Regiment, 1st Battalion. I got separated from my unit, Hunter 2-1. You don't happen to have seen anyone else dressed like I am?"

"I'm sorry?" Nekane was clearly puzzled. "US Army? You're a long way from home."

"I know. We're here on a training exercise," Ramirez replied. "Strictly speaking we're not supposed to interact with the locals unless it's an absolute emergency."

"Oh. Well in that case I'm really sorry but I haven't seen anyone from the army here."

"Are you sure? Sergeant Foley's a real bossy guy, constantly shouting my name or Corporal Dunn's. Perhaps you heard something," implored the private.

* * *

Far away to the east, Dunn and Foley sat at the top of the highest hill in the area. Dunn was fiddling with the radio on his back until he heard the sergeant sneeze loudly.

"You alright sarge?"

Foley sniffled and wiped his nose and hands on a tissue while nodding. "Don't worry about me. You done with the radio yet?"

"Nope. We'll just have to hope Ramirez won't be late to this rally point or tomorrow Colonel Marshall's going to have each of our arses for breakfast, lunch and tea."

"Hmm, I don't fancy that at all," murmured Foley, standing up and taking a few steps back so he was facing the west. He cupped his hands to his mouth and craned his neck before bellowing, "RAMIREZ!"

* * *

Nekane shook her head. "I'm afraid I didn't hear anything. Did you and your unit have a rally point or someplace where you could meet up?"

Ramirez opened his mouth to answer but stopped when he heard something in the distance. Nekane heard it too, cocking her head in that direction.

"Did you hear that?" Ramirez turned his head east, gazing out into the distance.

"Sounded human," commented Nekane, drumming her fingers on the handles of her bike.

"I think I know where to go. Sorry for troubling you like that." Ramirez waved, turned on his heel and started marching east.

"Go safely!" Nekane called, watching him as he disappeared into the darkness.

* * *

Negi, Asuna and Konoka left their dorm along with everyone else when the bell rung.

"Our last week before the holidays," said Negi opening the front door and allowing the girls to pass first.

"But our tests are this Friday," groaned Asuna unhappily. "And we wasted this weekend."

"Oh come on. Let's just get them done and over with. Besides, Negi-kun won't get fired this time," Konoka piped up.

"We won't be learning anything new this week since our lessons will be totally devoted to revision," said Negi as they came up to the class building.

"Negi-kun!" Takamichi called out, as he ran over across the pavement to reach them.

Following on his heels was Bishop. Instead of her usual tactical gear she was in civilian clothes. Her presence drew curious glances from Negi and the girls.

"Hey wasn't that the woman who fell out of the sky and landed on Takahata-sensei?" Konoka whispered to Asuna.

"Yeah, I saw the photo Asakura-san circulated and heard Haruna-san's speculation," Asuna murmured back.

"Good morning, Takahata-sensei," Negi greeted as they neared.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you yesterday but we've got a new staff member joining us," said Takamichi before introducing Bishop. "This is Marion Bishop, she'll be 3-A's PE teacher for the time being." To Bishop he said, "This is Negi Springfield, 3-A's homeroom and English language teacher."

"How do you do," said Bishop, holding out a hand which Negi took.

"She'll be observing the class today to get familiarised with the students since it's unusual for a new teacher to be introduced this late in the term." Takamichi looked at his watch before saying, "Well, I'd best be off now. Have fun."

Once he was gone, Bishop turned to see Konoka and Asuna giving a bow which she returned.

"Good morning, I'm Konoe Konoka. Student 13 of 3-A."

"And I'm Student 8 of the same class, Kagurazaka Asuna."

"Pleasure to meet you girls."

"Well, shall we be on our way?" offered Negi.

"Ok, take point then," said Bishop.

"I beg your pardon?" the young teacher asked her while Konoka and Asuna looked confused.

"Oh I meant lead the way." Bishop corrected herself quickly.

"Right..."

* * *

As they walked through the corridor, Asuna observed Bishop's distinctive march before coming to a conclusion and nudging Konoka.

"Yes?"

"Ex-military I bet," Asuna whispered to her friend.

"Could it have something-?"

Asuna hushed her with a finger to her lips.

"No, I'll ask Setsuna-san for her opinion."

"Should we tell Negi-kun?" asked Konoka, her eyes flicking from Bishop and Negi as the latter praised his class and made small talk.

They reached the door to 3-A's classroom where Gary, Simon and Joseph were still seated outside. Inside the muffled chatter and laughter of the class could be heard. The three of them stood up as Negi, Bishop, Asuna and Konoka approached.

"Good morning. What are you guys doing outside? You know you can go in as early as you please," said Negi.

The boys returned his greeting sullenly before Simon launched into an explanation. "It started with Asakura-san and Haruna-san who locked us out. All the other girls who came in were admitted but we were told to stay out here until class started properly."

"Well... that's highly unusual," replied Negi, looking at Konoka and Asuna who nodded knowingly. Normally the class got secretive if they were planning something.

"In any case now that you're here we'd might as well introduce Marion Bishop who's the new PE teacher here," said Negi.

Greetings were briefly exchanged. Bishop carefully looked each boy in the face, wondering how each of them would cope with the training she had planned for them. The same also went for Negi. How the brat could be a mage was totally beyond her imagination.

Negi then opened the door. As they entered, the girls who were all standing all shouted, "Welcome Simon Reilly, Joseph Allen and Gary Sanderson!" Dozens of streamers went off while clusters of balloons rose to the ceiling. The tables were all joined together and covered with a gigantic cloth, bearing paper plates of food and bottles of drink.

"Oh no. A party on exam week. Our class just had to find an excuse," grumbled Asuna to Konoka, only to find that the latter had already gone off to pour a drink for herself and Setsuna.

"Huh, I totally agree," said Chisame, standing next to her while everyone crowded around Joseph, Gary and Simon.

**

* * *

**

**Yeah, come to think of it this fic does subscribe to the Mood Whiplash trope a fair bit. **

**As you can see from previous chapters, I'm gunning for Simon and Yuna. Got any ideas for the others? If so send them via review or PM. **

**Have a Happy New Year.  
**


	20. Belated Party

**Sorry for my absence. You've had long enough to decide who to pair with Gary. Joseph is still up for grabs. Thanks to Catastrophe90 for his help with French stuff which will be implemented later in the fic. **

* * *

"Class!" Negi called out, waving his arms to get the girls' attention.

As usual he was he was having. Looking at Ayaka, the young teacher tried to make eye contact with Ayaka. This on the other hand wasn't as difficult. He made a throat slashing gesture to the class president who nodded her comprehension and promptly raised her voice for silence. Bishop, standing behind Negi at the door, analysed the situation like she would with a hostage taking or bomb hunt.

"Good morning 3-A," said Negi, rubbing the back of his head. "I should have known you were going to throw a welcoming party. If that were the case I would have asked you to include a new staff member."

He nodded to Bishop who entered and bowed. "Good morning. My name's Marion Bishop. I'll be your new PE teacher for the time being."

"Ehhhh!" the class cried aloud at this.

"Wow! Are you British like Negi?"

"What did you use to do?"

Bishop tried her best to answer. "I'm American, though I've been around the world for most of the last decade." To the second question she half-lied, "I used to be a drill instructor with the US Army."

"Wow, that's awesome!"

"Weren't you the woman who parachuted in yesterday and fell on Takahata-sensei?"

"Bishop and Takahata-sensei? Really?"

That sent Bishop sputtering in protest. "What!"

"She's single? And she's so… advanced in age," Nodoka said to Yue, sotto voce.

"Then that makes her an oba-san," she whispered back.

"They won't stop until they get a satisfactory answer," said Asuna to Chisame.

"Humph, you're probably right," she replied, picking up a cup. "And why would the school hire someone like her? Middle school's a long way away from boot camp."

Asuna was tempted to speculate but decided against it. Chisame and most of the others didn't yet know what was going on with the new guys. Meanwhile Bishop was dealing with a variety of questions such as her dress, shoe and bra size, hair care ideas and what's it like living as an independent single woman. Bishop did her best to humour them. Fortunately the subject of age remained untouched although everyone was aware that Bishop was at least twice as old as the eldest of the 3-A girls. Once the questioning was over the festivities resumed with Bishop joining Joseph, Gary and Simon as the guests of honour. Kaede surreptitiously extended the welcoming banner so it read: Welcome Simon Reilly, Joseph Allen and Gary Sanderson and Marion Bishop. Finally the girls turned their attention back to Negi and the new students, offering snacks and drinks. That was when Mana took her chance and approached Bishop.

"Bishop-sensei, it's been too long," she said quietly, holding out a drink.

"Mana Tatsumiya?" Bishop's voice rose in surprise, drawing everyone's attention.

"You used to be Mana-san's teacher?" exclaimed Haruna, pointing her finger.

"_Oh that makes sense_," thought the students who were aware of the mercenary girl's skills.

"Come to think of it no one knew Mana before middle school," said Kazumi, rubbing her chin.

"Yeah that's right," said Bishop quickly, adding, "If you would excuse us please, Tatsumiya-san and I have some catching up to do."

They both separated from the rest of the class, stopping near a window overlooking the plaza with the World Tree in the centre.

"You've certainly grown since I last saw you," said Bishop. "I had no idea you're going to school here."

Mana nodded. "I also have my responsibilities for the family temple within the campus."

"Seems like you've already got a lot on your plate."

"True, exorcism and the occasional demon are pretty intense. Your training was invaluable," said Mana quietly. She noted the lack of visible reaction from Bishop. "I'm assuming you're aware of your purpose here?"

Bishop nodded solemnly, taking a sip from her cup. "I was informed yesterday and had all night to think about it."

"Good." Mana smiled and asked more casually, "How's Clark and Chavez? Has the son taken over the family business?"

"Yes he has. About a year after you left," answered Bishop, glad for the change in subject.

"Well, no surprises there. How's he handling it?"

"He misses the action but everyone knows he's got the brains and the balls to stand up to the bureaucrats too. Once my assignment here is complete I'll know too."

That caused Mana's eyebrows to rise in surprise. "So you've been promoted to Five now? Congratulations."

"Not exactly, it's pending the outcome of the assignment. Six didn't put me up to it apparently." Bishop added, scowling for a second.

"Hmm. I wish you good luck, when you get back say hello to Six and the team." Mana turned to leave. "It's a test like any other and it'll be really embarrassing for me if you're unsuccessful." She echoed Bishop's same words from five years ago, leaving her former teacher standing there, stunned.

Meanwhile Joseph tugged on Gary's sleeve before whispering behind his hand, "Hey, five o'clock. Short blondie sipping tea."

Gary excused himself from his conversation with Madoka and Kaede. He quickly glanced around and spotted Evangeline sitting alone while being served tea by Chachamaru.

"Yeah, what about her?"

"Caught her staring daggers at Simon when his back was turned," explained Joseph quietly. "She looked ready to kill."

"Hell if I knew what Simon did to tick her off," answered Gary, watching the teacup in the girl's hands quiver angrily as she watched Simon listening to a joke from Konoka. "And I wouldn't be surprised." He left to get his plate refilled.

Joseph still looked worried which didn't go unnoticed by Negi as he approached and asked, "Is everything alright Allen-san?"

"Huh? Uh no. Not really Negi-sensei," he answered, but his eyes flicked back to Evangeline as she got up and went over to the table with Chachamaru in tow.

Negi saw what he was looking at. "Umm, Evangeline's an accelerated student, which is why she's so young-."

Joseph raised his hand to interrupt. "With respect, that's not really the issue. My gut's telling me there's something strange with her."

Negi raised an eyebrow before reaching up and putting a hand on his shoulder. "Ok Joseph-san. Evangeline-san's really a nice person. I can attest to that. She just has some nasty moods."

"Hmm, what were you saying about me boya?"

Both Negi almost jumped into Joseph's arms when he heard that.

"Oh! Evangeline-san! Chachamaru-san!" The teacher tried to recover quickly. "I don't believe you two have met Joseph-san personally yet!" He chuckled nervously and patted the older boy on the back.

"Uh, hey there. Allen, Joseph in case you missed my introduction last Friday," said Joseph, bowing to the girls.

Chachamaru returned the gesture unlike her master. "Good morning Allen-san. I was aware of your presence in Satomi-san's laboratory the day before while I was undergoing maintenance. I'm glad to be able introduce master and myself to you before this Saturday."

"What's happening this Saturday?" queried Joseph, cocking his head to a side.

It was then that the Chachamaru's OPSEC protocols kicked in. "Apologies. That is classified information."

"Right…" Joseph didn't remember having anything planned for the coming weekend.

Meanwhile Evangeline merely acknowledged Joseph with a nod and crossed arms before she turned to Negi. "You haven't answered the question."

"Uhh…" Negi waved his arms in distress, wondering where was Asuna before jumping up and putting an arm around Joseph's neck. "I was just telling Joseph-san how nice a person you are Evangeline-san!"

While the older boy bent over to the side uncomfortably he made eye contact with the little vampiress again. With a gulp he said, "Uhh, yeah. Negi-sensei was just praising you then Evangeline-san. Being an accelerated student and all…"

She glared back at them but to their relief she turned away with a huff. Both boys sighed in relief once they were out of earshot.

"That was close. Are you sure she isn't dangerous?" whispered Joseph wiping his clammy hands on a serviette.

"I made sure of it myself. She won't harm anyone in this class for certain," his teacher replied.

Joseph didn't look convinced at all. Before he could open his mouth he was immediately dragged off by the cheerleaders.

At the table, Gary had just emptied the remaining contents of a large packet of corn chips onto his plate. To his slight annoyance the salsa jar was empty. While he looked unsuccessfully around the table for some more, Akira approached the table from the other side at Makie's behest.

"And add some of those corn chips too," the gymnast called out.

"Do you want salsa with that?"

"Nah just plain corn will do."

Gary almost choked after tasting one of his chips he'd unthinkingly dipped into the red coloured contents of a jar. He read the label: raspberry jam. Akira had finished filling the two paper plates she'd brought to the table. However all that was left in the chips bag were a few crumbs.

"Hey Zazie-san," she asked the passing girl who was holding a cup and plate in both hands. "Do you know if there are any more bags of chips like this? She held up the empty bag.

Zazie nodded before tossing up her cup and catching it on her plate. Not a drop spilled. With her free hand she pointed to a large plastic bag under the table.

"You're always full of surprises. Thank you," said Akira admiringly.

"Akira-chan can you get a scone for me?" Makie called out, waving her arm from across the room. "Chachamaru was serving tea and Negi-kun said that eating scones with tea's a good idea."

"Do you want jam or cream with that?"

"Raspberry jam please."

After grabbing a scone Akira picked up the jam but there was evidence of contamination. Carefully she picked out a sliver from a corn chip with a spreading knife.

"_Someone here has stranger tastes than Yue-san_," she noted, mildly disgusted.

On the other side of the table Gary spotted Zazie as she was passing. She was still burdened with a cup and plate in each hand. "Hey Rainyday-san, do you happen to know if there's any more jars of salsa here?" He held up the empty jar.

With a nod, she tossed up her plate and caught it on the rim of her cup. Not a crumb spilled. She pointed to the same large plastic bag beneath the table with her free hand.

"Wow, that's a neat trick. Thanks," said Gary, impressed.

Gary and Akira both grabbed the bag at the same time. Puzzled, both tugged forcefully when they came up against resistance. Instead of breaking, the plastic simply stretched. Zazie observed from a safe distance, chewing on a stick of liquorice. Akira tugged again. Unfortunately Gary let go at the same time. Everyone gasped and ducked as they saw the bag go flying with packets of chips raining out. Akira was on her back and saw a jar of salsa falling right for her face. She shut her eyes bracing herself for the worst. Nothing happened, except for something pressing on her shoulder. She opened her eyes.

"That was close," said Gary, looking at the salsa jar. It was then he realised who he was straddling.

"Bit too close if you ask me," commented Simon dryly, watching from across the room.

Akira was turning as red as the salsa jar in Gary's hand. Fortunately his hand was on her shoulder, not anywhere else. Gary stared back frozen. Almost on autopilot, the jar was prised from his slack fingers and with all her strength, Akira struck him across the room.

"Wahhh! Another demonstration of Akira-chan's strength," exclaimed Fuka, remembering the time she was chucked into the water for participating in a cruel game of piggy in the middle with Negi in the bathhouse.

"You ok there?" Fumika asked the swimmer as she got up.

"I'm fine. Totally," she answered, brushing herself off with a huff and picking up her and Makie's plates. "I didn't need salsa anyway."

Akira retreated to the other side of the room with her friends though the back of her neck and ears were still red. Simon crouched beside Gary's stunned form and waved a hand over his half open eyes.

"Come on, up you get."

Once he was back on his feet he found himself facing his two new teachers, Negi and Bishop.

"You sure you're feeling fine?" asked Negi. "You don't need to go to the infirmary now do you?"

"I'm alright. Just a little sore here," answered Gary, rubbing the reddened spot above his eye.

Bishop leaned closer to examine it. "Well I've seen people recover from worse. Best you sit down for now perhaps." She gestured to a chair. "I'm sure assault's against the school rules. Admittedly I don't blame her that much."

"Figured you'd say that," grumbled Gary, sitting down.

Nearby Negi spoke to Asuna quietly. "I didn't think Akira-san would react in such a way."

The girl rounded on him indignantly. "Haven't you learnt anything while you were teaching here? She's fully justified in her reaction to such acts, especially since they're both around the same age. I think I'm too lenient towards you as it is."

Asuna however had more pressing issues to discuss with Setsuna.

"What do you reckon of-?"

Before she could finish, Setsuna answered, "Bishop-sensei's telling the truth to a degree. I can recognise a warrior and Tatsumiya-san confirms it as well."

"Whoa! That's fast," said Asuna, impressed. "What do you mean by stretching the truth?"

"The odour of tear gas and cordite tends to hang about oneself for weeks," said Setsuna, glancing over at Bishop who was talking to Natsumi and Chizuru. "With the recent terrorist attacks in Vegas I can only imagine what she's been up to."

"And how did you recognise the smell?" asked Asuna flatly.

"The master of a dojo where I'd trained briefly instilled breathing discipline in us by forcing us to train with tear gas and no masks." Setsuna grimaced and continued, "It was very unpleasant to say the least."

On the other side of the room, Sayo was whispering into Kazumi's ear while she checked the latest photos on her digital camera.

"Is that right Sayo-chan?" she asked, smiling mischievously.

"I'm very sure Sherri is Gary's girlfriend back in Britain. You might want to enquire discreetly with Simon or Joseph-san," Sayo replied.

Kazumi pondered it for a moment before saying, "No. I'll strike now while Gary-san's disoriented both from Akira's strike and her beauty."

Sayo responded by waving her arms wildly. "Wait Asakura-san! I don't want to embarrass him any further!"

"Relax, Sayo-chan I got this," reassured Kazumi, with a grin over her shoulder.

Joseph saw the reporter's exchange with the ghost but couldn't see the former. Confused, he watched Kazumi cross the room out of the corner of his eye.

"Think fast!"

Joseph looked up to see Ku Fei's fist coming right at his face.

"Gah!"

The fist stopped a millimetre away from his nose.

"Sorry. Had to make sure you're paying attention," 3-A's remaining martial arts expert apologised.

"Don't scare me like that."

Meanwhile, Akira had to relive the ordeal from her friends.

"You were lucky Gary was there. It wouldn't do for you to lose a few teeth to that jar," said Ako.

"Or maybe Gary saw this as an opportunity to get on your good side. A highly convenient accident as it is," added Yuna cynically. "All the same he's not too bad. Perhaps you should go along with it."

"Just what are you on about?" retorted Akira, not meeting her friend's eyes.

"My plan to get our entire group hooked up," Yuna replied.

"I'm working on Simon-san. Ako-chan's smitten with Negi's cousin, Nagi and Makie wants Negi." She pointed to Ako and Makie respectively. While the latter blushed and launched into a stuttering denial, Makie was distracted by something else.

"Hey look. Asakura-san's got her notebook out and approaching Gary. I wonder if something big is going to be revealed."

"Oh really?" asked Sakurako as she and the cheerleaders passed. She looked where Makie was pointing "I'm guessing there will be. You never know when Asakura-san's on the case."

"Come on. Maybe we can find something out about him," Yuna prompted as she and Ako pushed their taller friend forward.

"Hey! Do I really need to hear this?" she protested.

"Yes you do," answered Yuna, knowing well to trust Sakurako's intuition.

Gary looked up as Kazumi approached, clutching a few ice cubes in wrapped in a paper towel to his forehead. "Can I help you Asakura-san?"

"Why yes you can," the journalist replied, smiling and sitting next to him. "That was quite a stunt you pulled with Akira-san just then."

Gary rolled his eyes in reply. "I'll remember to apologise to her when it's convenient."

Kazumi chuckled before she went on, "So how are thing going with Sherri?"

He stared back before lowering his voice and saying, "How would you know something like that?"

The sports girls discreetly eavesdropping nearby heard Kazumi's question too, with the exception of Akira who struggled against the combined grip of Ako and Makie.

"A little bird told me that."

Sayo, hovering invisibly behind the journalist had a puzzled facial expression. "Little bird?"

Gary's eyes darted left and right quickly. But he didn't see the sports girls or cheerleaders gathering behind him. "And who was your source?"

Kazumi shook her head teasingly. "You know I can't say that."

The boy couldn't think of anyone except… He twisted his head around and spotted Simon. Joseph just didn't seem like the type to gossip.

"Is it true that your relationship was on the rocks the last time you two were together?"

"What?"

Gary's eyes widened before he gave another furious glance at his roommate before leaning in and whispering to Kazumi. The eavesdroppers sighed in frustration when they couldn't hear what they were saying.

* * *

LAX airport along with the rest of the US west coast was on a hair trigger following the events of Vegas. The National Guard of the 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from San Diego patrolled the city. After the secret raids on the USAF bases in neighbouring Nevada, marines from Camp Pendleton boosted the military presence across the whole west coast.

"_Al l useless in the end_," thought Bastian de Kere as he waited in the departure lounge, working on his IPad.

Looking out the window, he saw a pair of California Air National Guard F-16C Fighting Falcon jets taking off for CAP. A few M6 Bradley Linebackers and AN/TWQ-1 Avengers were also parked conspicuously throughout the airport grounds for anti-aircraft support. De Kere quickly glanced around when he heard someone protesting loudly at a security checkpoint. An airport security officer was asking a large man to calm down. Standing behind him near the metal detector was a frightened woman, crouching down and holding two boys to her chest. A couple more security staff arrived and took her and the children aside while a growing murmur arose from the very long queue of people who had yet to endure the extremely stringent checks. Ignoring the commotion, de Kere's eyes flicked over to an open door where a dozen National Guard troops in riot gear were lounging. In addition to their batons, they had FN 303 LTL launchers, M84 stun and M47 CS gas grenades, holstered tasers, and M4 carbines slung over their backs.

De Kere's alias, Jeffery Sokal got through with no trouble, even with mages staffing the security checkpoints. He turned his attention back to his IPad when he noticed the reply.

F Averruncus: Do with them as you wish. Take this one alive as well as your original objectives. I'm sending you a picture and name.

De Kere couldn't help but grit his teeth as he opened the JPEG sent from Fate. It was of an adolescent girl with long orange hair tied into long pigtails with the name Kagurazaka, Asuna.

"_Trust Fate to push me around_," he thought irritably, forwarding the image and name to Alpha team with instructions to add her to their HVI list.

Immediately after that he deleted the image and replied.

J Sokal: Done. Is there anyone else I should talk to?

F Averruncus: Speak to Graf Wilhelm Josef von Herrmann. He's in Hawaii at this moment. I'll tell him to expect you.

De Kere shut his eyes in frustration. That would mean going back, changing his ticket and queuing up again. Besides, that would only draw attention from security if he tried to go back or rejoin the queues.

J Sokal: Fine. Anything else I need to know other than the fact that the Thousand Master's son will be present?

F Averruncus: No I need you to perform a task when you get to Japan. Tsukuyomi will brief you.

"_Wasn't she the crazy girl who kept gushing on about some Setsuna Sakurazaki-senpai?_ "wondered de Kere. He impatiently drummed his fingers on the side of his seat he waited for Tsukuyomi to join the conversation.

T&S 4ever: Konbanwa :D

J Sokal: Can I help you?

T&S 4ever: Why yes you can. I need you to retrieve a certain weapon for me.

J Sokal: Just give me the name and manufacturer. I'll sort out the rest.

T&S 4ever: Oh it's far more ancient than anything weapons system you've ever laid hands on.

J Sokal: Get to the point.

T&S 4ever: Awww. Not even remotely curious? Fine. What I'm telling you is classified. Only the most trusted members of the Shinmei-ryu school know of this.

J Sokal: I've heard variations of that phrase many times for a whole range of reasons. Continue.

T&S 4ever: Ok. Have you heard of the Hina Cursed Blade?

J Sokal: You already know the answer to that.

T&S 4ever: Oh silly me. Of course you don't know. :P

* * *

"We never got anything done today," bemoaned Negi, his head in his arms as he sat at his desk.

"Oh don't worry Negi-kun, we'll work harder tomorrow to make up for it all," Konoka reassured him with a gentle pat on his shoulder.

It was only him, Konoka, Setsuna, Chamo and Asuna who were left to clean up after the class party. The floor was still littered with plates, cups and spilled food while the tablecloth had half slid off the large joint table. The chairs weren't stacked up and the bin was full to overflowing. Bishop had to leave ages ago to attend her second class. An hour had passed since class officially ended and the students dispersed to attend their clubs.

"Can't believe everyone dogged us. They organised it," growled Asuna, picking up a wet paper towel by the tip of her fingers and dropping it into an empty chip bag she converted into a bin.

Chamo had his head buried in a paper fast food bucket. "Hey we can salvage some of this stuff you know. Just nuke it up for dinner and stuff," he said, his voice muffled from a full mouth.

Setsuna picked up a similar container and sniffed the contents. "I think these have gone bad since they've been open since this morning."

The ermine coughed loudly and spat his mouthful back into the bucket. "I did say some, not all didn't I?"

"Better luck next time I guess," said Asuna, throwing a disgusted look at the ermine. "You're getting rid of that yourself."

"Let me get rid of the rest of these now," chirped Konoka, a full stack of fast food buckets in her arms.

"Wait! Let me help you with that ojou-sama!" Setsuna quickly leapt over a couple of upturned chairs to reach Konoka as she clumsily edged her way through the door.

Once the noise of Setsuna's fussing could be heard echoing in the hallway, Asuna asked Negi, "Hey! What do you reckon of that new teacher? Bishop?"

The boy looked up from the piled of trash he was sweeping into a dustbin. "What about her?"

"She's ex-military. I think she's the trainer who's been assigned to those boys. Why else would the school hire her so close to the end of term?"

Negi stood up and rubbed his head. "I had a feeling that would occur. I don't know why the Dean hasn't spoken to us about it yet.

"Maybe it's because she already knows," Chamo added helpfully.

"Well, that could certainly be a possibility," Asuna agreed, leaning against the wall.

The two of them jumped when they heard a voice at the door. "Who already knew and what could certainly be possible?"

"Huh?" Hasegawa-san!" Negi cried out in surprise.

"Well?" Chisame leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

"Uhh…" Chamo noticed how the hacker girl had effectively shut off all avenues of escape. The windows were too far up to jump.

"Is there something you wanted?" asked Asuna, as innocently as possible.

Chisame frowned back at her. "I thought you could do with some help. But now that you mention it there's something that been bothering me lately."

"_Other than the fact that this Ghost is closing in on my online ratings_."

Negi slowly sat down behind his desk and beckoned for her to take a seat which she did.

"First and foremost is about those new boys."

"Uh yeah."

"Well isn't there something wrong with that?"

"Umm, yeah that's obvious but no one seems to have a problem with that," answered Negi shakily.

"Well hear this," said Chisame, holding up a finger. "Most of the people in this class are just downright strange, hands down. What I see wrong is that these guys are just as normal as any I've ever met."

Asuna and Chamo snorted at this.

"And so…"

"Bottom line is why they are here?" Chisame slammed her hand down on the desk. "If they're that normal why aren't they at the boy's campus? Why is it that you're their teacher? Why is it they're grouped up with us freaks?"

Negi rocked back in his chair, so much so that he was in danger of tipping off. Asuna and Chamo looked despairingly at each other. Chisame surprised herself with her performance and when she referred to herself as a freak.

* * *

**OPSEC= Operational Security**

**CAP= Combat Air Patrol **

**LTL= Less-than-Lethal **

**I couldn't think of a better chat username for Tsukuyomi. Note the intercontinuity crossover with Love Hina and Rainbow Six.  
**


	21. Missed Monday

**Warning: Eye Scream Trope halfway through. **

**It's amusing how many COD fics portray Task Force 141 and Ranger members to have about the same maturity as a bunch of fratboys.  
**

* * *

Asuna with encouragement from Chamo decided to step in to save her teacher. "Hey Chisame-san."

"What is it?" the hacker asked, her head snapping around. The cricking noise made everyone wince.

"It can't really hurt to tell you this much ok?" said Asuna, raising her hands in placation.

"Has it got something to do with you and all this…?" Chisame waved her arms about helplessly before pointing to Negi's staff.

"Yes it does," answered Chamo.

Chisame persisted, "Don't they have a boys school for this sort of thing?"

In his chair, Negi returned to his proper seating position. "Yes it does but there's more to it," he panted.

The hacker narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh so it's got to do with you? Right?" She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. "Trouble seems to follow you everywhere."

"Oh come on, you can't blame him now that his dad sent him a message beyond the grave about this issue," Asuna blurted out.

"Ohhhhh yessss. And you can call me the Easter Bu- What!" She snapped around to face Negi who rocked back in his chair again. "Beyond the grave? What were you doing? Dabbling with an Ouija board? Holding a séance?"

Noticing how the boy's face had gone gray, Chamo interrepted, "Aniki's father was pronounced missing, not presumed dead Chisame-neechan. Go easy on him."

The hacker glared ferociously at Asuna and the ermine before looking back at her teacher who looked thoroughly mortified. At this, she felt the anger rapidly dissipate.

"I'm sorry Hasegawa-san. I'll try my best to explain what's going on. I didn't want it to preoccupy you too much on exam week," said Negi meekly.

"Ok, ok, alright." Chisame relented. "I won't push the matter." As she crossed the classroom to leave she turned and asked, "Oh and what are those guys supposed to be? I hope it's not an esper or psychic, I've had my fair share of mages, robots and aliens."

Negi, Asuna and Chamo looked at each other uncertainly.

"Umm… Special operations commandos in training?" ventured Asuna.

"What?"

* * *

"_You're one heavy son of a bitch," grumbled Roach as he dragged Ghost up the street from the club where the Task Force was having some R&R. _

_Behind them the music was still being churned out at maximum volume and base for the benefit of the wilder and more energetic guys. _

"_I can't help that everyone with a pair of X chromosomes wants to share a drink with me now," Ghost slurred back, stumbling a bit and almost dragging his friend with him. _

_Roach shook his head and said, "That's a load of bollocks, you can't top Captain MacTavish, we got that clear?" _

"_I outrank you sir." _

"_Ok… That only proves how utterly wasted you are," replied Roach as they approached the car. "Besides, the Captain said we're all equal tonight." _

_Cell, their designated driver was already waiting in the car. As the two of them approached, he leaned out and shouted, "Hurry up you two!" _

"_Gee, he sounds really pissed," commented Ghost. He sat down on a low wall as Gary opened the door and quickly threw out some junk from the back seat. _

"_Well no kidding mate. He drew the short straw, remember?" said Roach. _

_Ghost stared at him. "Short straw for what?" _

_The sergeant gritted his teeth. "Did you forget that we can't have a drunk driver driving for us?" _

"_Ahhh…" The lieutenant leaned over and slumped to the side. _

"_Hey Cell, didn't you say you keep some bottled water in here?" asked Roach. _

"_Why don't you check the trunk? I'll pop it for you," answered Cell, starting up the engine. _

"_Thanks mate." Gary went around to the back. _

_Ghost shambled over to the side of the car. "It's not even morning yet and you've already got a hangover?" He promptly threw up over his friend's shoes. _

"_That's it, you're walking home," snapped Roach, slamming shut the door and rushing over to the front passenger seat. "Step on it Cell." _

_Ghost managed to struggle to his feet and get to the door but he couldn't prise it open. "Hey open the door!" He slammed his palm on the driver's side window. _

_Cell merely flipped him off before peeling away. _

"_Wankers!" shouted Ghost, raising his fist weakly as the car drove off._

* * *

"You need any help there?" asked Joseph, jogging up to Gary who was supporting Simon as they struggled down the corridor back to their room.

"That'll be great thanks," replied Gary appreciatively before saying to Simon. "I can't believe it's me dragging your drunken arse from the party again."

Joseph looked at him questioningly. "Umm, isn't this our first party together? And I hardly think he's drunk since there's no alcohol."

Simon groaned out a response. "My stomach can't handle that much ginger ale."

The other two looked at each other. "Close enough."

"Maybe next time you should watch what you drink, even if you aren't drinking alcohol," suggested Joseph, lifting up Simon's arm and draping it over his shoulder.

"Couldn't help it..."

Gary and Joseph looked at each other. "Must have been Yuna," the latter concluded.

"No it wasn't."

"Was so. Didn't you see that Joseph?" said Gary.

"Uhh…"

"Don't answer that, you saw nothing," Simon cut in.

When they go to the door, Joseph unlocked it and stood aside to let his roommates in first. What they failed to notice was the parcel lying next to the doormat. Joseph looked uncertainly at it before picking it up. He was about to read the label when he heard Gary call, "Shut the door behind you!"

While Simon was taken into the bathroom and dumped him there, Joseph checked the name. Curiously it had Gary's name written cursively in English and was shipped all the way from Britain by express airmail. Since it was only a few days after their arrival, the sender must have known of their destination in advance. He rattled the box, but only heard its contents rattle about.

"Something for you," said Joseph, holding it out when Gary passed, heading to the kitchenette. "Sounded small, whatever it was."

"Thanks," grumbled Gary, not really appreciating his roommate's harmless attempt to discern the contents. His ire rose when he recognised the handwriting.

Roughly, he stripped away the gray packing paper and prised open the cardboard flaps to discover a 1GB USB flash drive, a fairly cheap storage data device nowadays. Curiously he examined its plain black plastic exterior before uncapping the top and plugging it into his laptop. Joseph meanwhile examined the handwriting on the label again. He came to a conclusion at the same time Gary, in a shaken voice, told him to stand by the bathroom door in case Simon needed assistance inside. Joseph decided not to ask exactly what kind of assistance although it sounded like an open tap inside. The phone in Gary's pocket rang continuously for a minute.

"Shouldn't you have answered that by now?" Joseph wondered aloud, leaning against the door and staring up at the ceiling.

No answer.

"That's from Sherri? Right?"

He leaned out and saw the back of his roommate, hunched over the laptop on the table.

"I guess you sent your email a little late. What's happening now?"

There was a long silence before Joseph straightened his back again.

"Take a flamin' guess, genius."

A little miffed, he retorted, "I know I am. It doesn't take a 4.0 GPA to know you're in trouble. Am I right?"

* * *

In the Library trio's room, Haruna cancelled the call before rounding on Yue. "I thought I told you to tell Gary-san to meet us here? We've got our shift at the island in less than ten minutes."

She shrugged in reply. "I did as you instructed. Maybe he forgot."

"Well he still has obligations to the library! Who's going to crawl through the dark, dusty ventilation ducts to lay out the fibre optic cables hmm?" Haruna clenched her fist in emphasis as she headed for the door. Along the way she snatched up Nodoka. "Come on. Let's see what's keeping him."

"Wait up!" Yue called out as her friends bundled out the door, leaving her to pack all their library books due to be returned into a single bag.

Haruna led the way while she dragged a stumbling Nodoka behind. In their wake, Yue huffed as she shouldered the backpack full of books. She almost crashed into her friends when Haruna suddenly halted and held up a fist.

"Hold up," she commanded.

The other two complied, freezing in place.

"What is it?" muttered Yue, stepping around Nodoka before the two of them were suddenly dragged into a nearby recess by their friend.

Down the hallway, Akira paused halfway towards the boys' dorm when she saw the Library trio approaching from the opposite direction. When Haruna dragged Yue and Nodoka out of sight she stopped, suspicious. She could tell Haruna was looking for the same room by the way she was keeping track of the doors she passed. She was also the last person she wanted to run into, that and Kazumi.

"What is it this time?" Yue grumbled before Haruna silenced her with a finger to the lips.

"Akira-san. She's a long way away from her dorm. After that incident with Gary-san let's see what's going to happen."

"But I thought you told us that Kazumi told you that Gary's already got someone," whispered Nodoka.

"It doesn't matter now. Let's see what I'm about to happen," said Haruna, peeking around the corner.

Outside, Akira hesitated as she approached the door. With the school rumourmonger out there she didn't want to give off the wrong impression.

"What's taking you?"

Akira turned to see Makie and Ako behind a pillar.

"Oh come on, don't rush me. Don't you know Haruna-san's out there?"

"Well we didn't. And even if she is, just get this done and over with. Apologise and thank Gary-san and then leave," instructed Ako. "It's simple."

"Why couldn't Yuna-san have come too? Everyone knows she's into Simon and she could have gone in my stead," Akira complained.

Makie shook her head. "Her dad's been sick all morning and she'd gone over to tend to him. Didn't you remember?"

The swimmer sighed irritably. "Alright. But you two will be my witnesses in case I need to deny anything Haruna-san says later."

"We got it." Her friends each gave her thumbs up before ducking back behind the pillar.

"Ok, let's do this," Akira whispered to herself, turning around and striding forward.

While her back was turned, Haruna had sneaked forward into another alcove and quietly wedged a bin out of the way.

Akira finally found the door. The number written on the inside of her wrist matched that on the plate. She frowned when she realised how the numbers had smudged from sweat. As she raised her hand to knock, she couldn't help but look around her. To her right there were two long strands of hair, twitching just above a bin. Confronting Haruna would only generate more speculation she would have to put up with. With a roll of her eyes she decided to have the conversation outside, just show the rumourmonger that there's nothing going on. Again she reluctantly raised her fist, only to find they were shaking.

"_It couldn't be that difficult_." She tried reassuring herself. "_He did save her from losing a few teeth and he seemed alright_."

The ringtone of her phone made her jump. Fumbling with it, she quickly scanned the two texts sent from Makie and Ako.

_Been paged. Emergency at infirmary. Gotta run. _

_Ako _

Next message.

_Sorry. Ninomiya-sensei misfiled a form and needs to see me straightaway. _

_Makie_

"_Trust those two to dog me now_," thought Akira, gritting her teeth and stowing away her phone. The sound of the door outside opening followed by diminishing footsteps made her flush angrily.

Behind the bin, Haruna observed carefully. "_Taking advice from friends remotely. Face going red. Body language indicates frustration or something along those lines. Could this mean something?_"

Just as Akira was about to knock there was a dreadful cry from inside.

"NOOOOO!"

"_That's it. I'm not getting involved_." The swimmer girl turned on her heel and stalked off, trying to maintain as much dignity as possible.

No sooner has her back turned had Haruna leapt out of her hiding place and tapped on the door. As Yue and Nodoka re-entered the corridor, the backpack held by the former suddenly ripped and a torrent of books spilled out. While the two of them gathered them up, Haruna rushed into the dorm as soon as the door opened.

"What's wrong?" she asked breathlessly, brushing past Simon who'd let her in.

Inside she saw Gary slumped over his laptop while Joseph was patting his back awkwardly. The two protruding hairs on her head twitched as she approached Gary.

"Do I smell a breakup?" she queried.

Simon and Joseph looked at each other in surprise. Haruna leaned over Gary's back and glanced at labels on the collection of files from the USB.

"I knew it! But no time to mope. You've got club obligations to attend to," she declared, evidently pleased with herself as she took a catatonic Gary by the collar and dragged him out of the room.

The door slammed, leaving Joseph and Simon standing in their dorm, awkwardly staring at it and the laptop.

"Have fun," Simon called out belatedly.

* * *

Bastian de Kere read the updated HVI list on his IPad while the plane reached cruising altitude. The four persons whose pictures were shown were all teenagers. Out of the three boys, the one most surprising and recognisable to de Kere was Joseph Allen or Alexi Borodin. He was sure he killed him twenty years ago in that Hellain gateport garage. As for Asuna Kagurazaka, he wondered how it was that the Twilight Imperial Princess wound up in Japan of all places and under tutelage of Negi Springfield of all people. Just as he was about to read his latest report from Alpha team the stewardess reminded him buckle up for a steep descent. With a nod, he complied and stowed away his IPad.

He grimaced at the growing pain in his left eye. Something cloudy was beginning to cloud the lower half of his vision in the same eye. Ever since he started flying it would change position. Sometimes at the very edge of vision or dead centre. He made a note to check with the last healer-ophthalmologist who transplanted his latest pair of eyes. A warning tone beeped over the intercom as the plane continued its rapid descent. De Kere grunted and blinked as the pain increased sharply and the blurred spot increased in side. This time he could feel it. Something in the very back of his eye. A surgical error almost as blatant as leaving a scalpel in a patient's abdomen.

De Kere cringed with another stab of pain shot through his skull and raised a hand to rub the painful eye. A small smudge of blood appeared on the side of his hand afterwards. Suddenly there was a tugging feeling as he felt something pushing up against his eyelid. Realising time was short; he reached for his meal tray and snatched up a sickbag, a disused spreading knife and a half full tumbler of port. The stewardess sitting near the first class toilet tried to stop him but he ignored her, hiding the tumbler and knife from sight with the bag.

Inside he sprang into action, flicking open the sickbag and downing the port in a single gulp. Although he could stand the pain and virtually never drank, the alcohol certainly helped. He quietly he gave an incantation which sharpened the knife so it was on par with a scalpel. Next he cast a sterilisation field over his hands, face and the eye. Gently he lifted up his left eyelid and folded it back. The tugging sensation occurred again as the sclera of his entire left eye started to swell. That tugging was of the muscles which held the eye in place and allowed it to rotate.

"_What the hell's the pilot doing?_" de Kere thought furiously, gripping the knife in one hand. He had a dilemma, cut out the eye now or hope the descent will slow enough for the air bubble in his eye to equalise.

He was deprived of that choice when the entire plane bucked as it encountered turbulence. The knife flew from his hand and landed somewhere behind the toilet. Dropping to his knees, de Kere scrabbled for it but stopped when the pain literally blinded him in that eye. The sickbag was caught in the air-conditioning duct and tore as he attempted to retrieve it. Desperately, he grabbed the glass tumbler and cupped it over his eye socket at the very last moment.

There was a sickening splat as the entire front half of his eyeball exploded onto the inside of the tumbler. For a second, de Kere saw stars in his other good eye. The healer did a proper job on that one at least. Immediately the tap in the sink was on at full blast as he dug out the remaining contents. His retina was still intact as well as half the sclera and the eye muscles. He retrieved his knife and cut the rest out carefully. Unfortunately there wasn't really a spell that could successfully numb all the pain. A healing ward carried in de Kere's shirt pocket right over his heart kept him from going into shock. However he needed his muscles, blood vessels, connective tissue and nerves intact for another transplant so he cast a stasis spell inside the socket. Next he fished around in the tumbler and the splattered remains of the eye. By then the plane had stabilised and the stewardess was pounding on the door.

After taking a deep breath, de Kere replied in a nonchalant tone, "One moment please."

The knocking ceased and he continued until he picked out a miniscule metallic object between his index finger and thumb which was promptly incinerated with a small shock spell and discarded into the toilet. That was followed by the contents of the tumbler. As he washed his hands, the knife and glass, he heard a prolonged thump against the door, followed by low, excited voices of a man and woman outside.

"Could you please hurry up?" the man called out.

"_Must be waiting join the Mile High Club_," he thought, dulling the knife and hiding it up his sleeve.

"Hold your horses I'll be out." He decided to humour them.

As de Kere opened the door, the noise of the toilet flushing could be heard clearly in the first class cabin. He looked left and saw a couple in each others arms standing to the side.

He gave them a pained smile and said, "Just flushing my eye down the toilet." He nodded to the vacant toilet. "Take as long as you need."

They both looked at him strangely as he left. To them his eyes seemed uncoordinated. By the time he was back in his seat, de Kere had synchronised his real and illusionary eyes.

"_Note to self: Eye for an eye. That healer who botched this job will pay_."

* * *

"Ahh… Maybe I'll take up another term here if I get to use these facilities every day," sighed Bishop, relaxing in massive pool in the bathhouse.

With her were several other female teachers including Shizuna, Ninomiya, Toku Kuzunoha and Sister Shakti.

"You can always apply to the Dean, provided your prospective future employers are okay with that," Shizuna answered with a wink.

Only the magically aware teachers who were also directly involved in the covert magical aspects of Mahora festival were aware of Bishop's true affiliations.

"I'm sure they won't mind. They're busy enough as it is," Bishop murmured after giving it a little thought.

They all sat in the water for a while before Ninomiya said, "And how did your first classes go Bishop-sensei?"

She replied with a wave of her hand. "I got a fairly good impression from everyone so far. I was supposed to have 3-A first thing this morning. Never got around to actually teaching them since they were partying to introduce their new classmates."

Bishop exchanged a knowing glance with Shizuna, Toku and Shakti.

"Funny you should mention them," Ninomiya went on, standing up and applying soap to her body. "You've got some of the most physically talented and diverse students you have yet to see in action."

Sister Shakti, who had a towel turban enclosing her hair, nodded in agreement and added, "I heard a few interesting things about the training regime you implemented. How long do you intend for it to proceed?"

Bishop shrugged. "It's only a trial run. The Dean Konoe approved it personally and had the waivers ready for each class." She looked apologetically over to Shizuna. "I believe the infirmary experienced a sudden influx about an hour ago. Which was why us two were a little late."

"Huh?" The head nurse was a little out of it.

"What happened on the rope climbing course and how you almost ran out of antihistamines as a result?" Bishop reminded her.

"Oh… that."

"What were you trialling?" Toku asked curiously. "Good thing no one was actually hurt and everyone signed those waivers."

Bishop paused before answering. "The sort of stuff I used to do. Running, gunning and scrabbling from cover to cover."

"As expected from an ex-ranger," Shakti muttered amusedly to her colleagues.

"The Dean was awfully quick to approve," said Toku.

Shizuna shrugged. "He wouldn't look like it but he's generally quite receptive to new ideas."

"Maybe that's how you were hired," added Shakti.

* * *

What they didn't know was that the men's changeroom was occupied too. Takamichi, Seruhiko, Gandolfini, Mitsuru Nijuin and Nitta were getting ready for a dip.

"I thought we invited Professor Akashi to join us this evening," said Gandolfini, removing his shoulder holster which was modified to accommodate a sheathed M9 bayonet in addition to his pistol.

"Sick. Ate something bad if I remember correctly," Nitta answered as he polished his glasses on his tie before stowing it away.

"That's unusual, I usually eat with him at Chao Bao Zi and I've never had any problems," noted Mitsuru.

Takamichi was almost ready to go. "If I remember correctly, Yuna-san normally sends him a prepared meal from her dorm once every now and then."

"Are you sure you didn't get the names switched around?" asked Seruhiko uncertainly.

Takamichi walked over to the lockers to wait. "No it's true."

Nitta added, "Well it's not like Yuna-san's really that dependant on him anymore. He mainly signs her forms for excursions, field trips and the like."

"Well hasn't Yuna been busy lately? I mean lately she's been preoccupied with that new kid," Gandolfini wondered aloud, joining Takamichi near the lockers.

Seruhiko added, "Oh yes. Surprising isn't it. She's normally very close isn't she?"

"What are you suggesting? Neglect?" added Nitta.

Takamichi scoffed, "Oh come on guys, I'm sure Akashi-sensei's not going to suffer because Yuna-san stops looking after him."

It was Mitsuru's comment which lowered the mood. "Well I think it is about time. He hasn't been the same ever since… you know."

* * *

"Could I ask one of you for a favour? This weekend I need someone to drive me to a certain address out of town," said Bishop, rising out of the water with the rest of the female staff.

"Hmm? What is it?" asked Shakti.

"Got an errand to run for a former student of mine," answered the ex-ranger, casting her mind back to Logan's letter.

"I would help but I'm going away this weekend too," said Toku with a small smile.

Ninomiya noticed that. "Going away huh? Wonder if your boyfriend's joining you there?" she teased.

"Hey!" The shinmei-ryu teacher went red. "That's none of your business!"

Shizuna turned to Bishop. "I could take you there or maybe you can ask Takahata-sensei."

They were halfway to the women's change room when the male teachers emerged. Both groups fortunately were covered with towels.

"GET OUT!" the women shouted in unison, sending the men into a rapid retreat.

* * *

**And there you have it. Even the teachers have their moments. **

**The eye explosion was based off the urban myth that breast implants will explode on an airliner so no need to be afraid the next time you visit an ophthalmologist.  
**

**Kindly R&R as usual. Anything you say will help. **


	22. Typical Class

**I know this chapter's pretty normal but we'll get into more exciting stuff in the next chapter. **

**Thanks very much to dragonheart967 for his invaluable feedback.  
**

* * *

"Master." Chachamaru gave Evangeline another moment before prodding her shoulder a little more insistently. "Master."

Evangeline was still clutching tightly to her blankie and stuffed rabbit as she mumbled something and turned over on her bed. Chachamaru sighed and crossed her arms. Even though time was compressed inside Evangeline's training globes, the vampire couldn't push herself to work harder and longer without repercussions on her body when she returned to the real world.

"Master, should I begin my scheduled tasks for this morning?" Chachamaru queried.

One of the robot's behavioural algorithms answered that for her when Evangeline didn't respond about for another minute.

"Very well master. I'll try my best not to wake you."

Chachamaru turned on her heel and left as quietly as possible. Inside the toolshed just outside the lodge she opened a locker and changed into a jumpsuit, boots, gloves and a cap. After that she started the lawn mower with a single tug on the cord before pushing it out of the double doors onto the grass. Evangeline didn't trust the school gardeners to tend to the vegetation surrounding her plot of land. When Chachamaru was undergoing two weeks worth of repairs following a lightning strike, the weeds in the gardens surrounding the lodge had grown seriously out of control and Evangeline had steadfastly refused to allow anyone with a mere pair of scissors near her lodge. Such were the quirks of her master the android mused as she started in one corner of the perimeter of her master's lawn.

Inside her bedroom, Evangeline awoke to the dull roar of the mower, intruding through her open window. She groaned and rubbed her eyes before checking the clock. It was 7.15 in the morning which was earlier than usual. Usually Chachamaru, her sisters or Chachazero booted up at 6 to put on a kettle, prepare breakfast and pack their homework, textbooks, stationary and lunch before waking her half an hour before homeroom started. Getting there on time wasn't a problem since Chachamaru would just wake her master and help her get dressed before flying her over the golf course to reach the school buildings.

"Chachazero!" she commanded, swinging her legs over the bed, the tips of her toes dangled an inch above the floor.

"Yes master?" The doll floated in, carrying a newspaper delivered by Asuna earlier that morning.

"Tell me what is causing that racket?" Evangeline didn't have the energy or will to get to her window.

Chachazero cocked her head to the side. "Chachamaru's mowing the lawn, didn't you remember? You always gave strict instructions that it must never be more than an inch high."

"Oh yeah…" The vampire groggily reached for a cup on the tray Chachamaru had brought in earlier.

The doll regarded her master for a while before asking curiously, "Master? Why do we have to tend to the lawn and the garden so regularly?"

Evangeline finished her tea and wiped her mouth before replying, "Don't tell me you've forgotten all of a sudden?"

Chachazero stared back uncomprehendingly before it dawned on her. "Oh that's right. You're afraid of him which is why master's always afraid of the grass."

The vampire raised her voice indignantly. "I'm not afraid ok!"

"Whatever you say. Don't worry, no one's going to ambush you on the way to class," the doll answered in a singsong voice. "Shall I get your slippers for you master?"

* * *

On the other side of the golf course, Simon was wheeling his golf bag from the clubhouse. The inventory manager for the Golf Club was in and she eagerly allowed him access after he showed her his membership card. Somehow he felt it had something to do with him being the only male member. Joseph and Gary were still asleep when he woke up and quietly ate a light breakfast of cold meatballs from an open MRE he found in the fridge. After that he quickly drafted a few things for his Ghost website. Making sure his roommates were still asleep, he had a peek at the Chiu website too. The girl it featured was cute but vaguely familiar. Outside it was dead quiet in the corridors as he sneaked out again with his backpack slung over his shoulders.

"Good morning Reilly-kun." The Dean overtook him on the green with his golf buggy. The elderly man also wore a tartan golfing cap in addition to his usual attire.

"Uhh… hey there." Simon waved back and watched the Dean speed away.

* * *

Konoka, Chamo and Negi as usual were up before Asuna. As usual, the boy found himself in the girl's bed and discreetly removed himself before the hot tempered girl awoke.

"What would you like Negi-kun? Natto? Porridge? Toast?" Konoka was in the process of packing her bags and making breakfast at the same time.

Negi wiped the sleep out of his eyes and walked into the bathroom before squeezing out the last of some toothpaste onto his toothbrush. "If there's any yoghurt left could you get it for me please?"

"Sure," Konoka called back. A sudden thought made her hesitate as she fetched the tub of yoghurt for her teacher.

"Wait… Ane-san said something about the yoghurt but I forgot," warned Chamo waving a paw towards Asuna.

"Huh?" Negi didn't hear her over the sound of the tap in the bathroom.

There was a quiet knock on the door which Konoka answered. To her pleasant surprise, Setsuna, in full school uniform was standing there. The young swordswoman bowed curtly and opened her mouth but was interrupted.

"Good morning Set-chan!" squealed Konoka delightedly before pulling her through the door, followed by her schoolbag and sheathed sword.

"Uh, same to you too ojou-sama," Setsuna replied breathlessly, picking up her bag before bowing to her teacher who was at the counter, spooning up the rest of the yogurt from the tub.

"Oh. What a surprise. Good morning Setsuna-san. What are you doing up so early?"

The girl, a little flustered, replied, "I was practising some swings outside when Takahata-sensei approached me with a letter." She held it up. "He told me to find you during homeroom. While I was on my way back to the dorm, I heard that you were awake and so I decided to knock." She bowed again. "Apologies if I arrived at an inconvenient time."

Negi waved it off with a short laugh. "Don't say that. The only person you'll be inconveniencing would be Asuna-san." He waved his hand at the girl's sleeping form in the top bunk."

"Well here it is." Setsuna handed the letter to her teacher before bowing and saying, "I'll see you all at homeroom then."

Konoka implored, "Oh won't you stay a little. Have you had something to eat this morning Set-chan?"

"I'm afraid I must decline ojou-sama. I always have breakfast once my morning regime is complete." She bowed and departed before Konoka tried something else to change her mind.

Disappointedly pouting, the girl turned around to look at Negi who was reading the letter. His spoon hung in the air with the last dollop of yoghurt which Chamo stood on his hind legs to reach and slurp up.

"So Negi-kun. What's happening?"

The teacher looked up. "It's just about upcoming tests and provisions for the new students since they transferred this late. Nothing you should concern yourself with."

He then licked the spoon, wondering where the last of the yoghurt went.

* * *

Chisame arose after slamming the snooze button on her alarm clock for the third time. Her room was a mess after staying well past midnight, posing and recording with her camcorder. Books, clothes and various paraphernalia lay strewn over her bed, floor and desks. Since it was summer her wardrobe consisted of swimsuits, a sari and a grass skirt and coconut bra set among other things. As per her routine, she showered while the computer booted up.

"_What should it be for today? Clearly I need to regain my male audience which is being poached by Ghost's 80's action hero shenanigans_," she mused, running her fingers through her hair under the warm spray of water.

She continued to ponder while she brushed her teeth.

"_I need something that's endearing enough to satisfy my loyal admirers. But I must show that I share some common interests with the boys who defected to the Ghost camp_."

Then she remembered what it was that Negi had confided in her yesterday, after the party.

"_Now I'm certain that Ghost is being produced by one of those boys_!"

But then she remembered the significance of the secret.

"_Oh my gosh! What has our class gotten into! First we had guys show up in our class. Now I found out they're actually spec ops commandos_?"

* * *

Chizuru awoke to the noise of loud sniffing and rummaging. Silently yawning, she took care not to bump her head against the bottom of the top bunk where Natsumi still slumbered. She looked for the alarm clock which was meant to go off a good half an hour ago. As suspected, it had been shifted away from its usual place on her clothes drawer. Getting up, Chizuru found it sitting on her desk instead, furthermore someone had reprogrammed recently. Since her roommate was still snoring and the futon on the other side of the dorm was empty…

"Oh Kotaro-kun! What are you doing?" asked Chizuru, crossing the dorm and leaning against the counter.

She could see Kotaro's back to her as he rummaged around in the fridge. The moment he heard her voice he jumped, spun and slammed the door shut. Only problem was that his tail was caught, making him yelp.

"Nothing. Just preparing a meal for the two of you…" he answered shakily, holding up several plastic wrapped plates and boxes.

The crumbs around his mouth didn't escape Chizuru's notice as she smiled sweetly at him and said, "Oh that's so kind of you. But you know how unhealthy party food is?"

The dog hanyo gulped and looked at down at the food he was holding. He nodded while trying to pull his tail out of the door discreetly. The pain registered on his face which was also detected by the motherly girl.

"Aw, looks like you've gotten sick from eating it. Better not try that again," said Chizuru, moving around the counter and opening the fridge, not noticing Kotaro's tail being released.

"Uh what are you doing? Chizuru-neesan?" he asked apprehensively.

"The usual treatment," she answered cheerfully, pulling leek out of a bundle from the fridge.

A moment later Natsumi was awoken by the sound of Kotaro's wail.

* * *

"You didn't apologise didn't you?" Yuna slid down the ladder to the lower bunk and flung the covers off Akira.

She had come home late after caring for her father the previous evening. Akira mumbled incoherently and stuck her head in her pillow. She waited until her friend had left her side before she got up.

"Who should I be apologising to?" she asked sleepily, stretching a bit.

There was a clatter as Yuna dropped a pan she was removing from a cupboard.

"I didn't think you'd forget."

"Do remind me." Akira was out of it as she began to pack her school bag.

"Gary-san. Tallish guy, around..." Yuna rubbed her chin in contemplation before stretching up her arm. "Actually he's closer to Mana-san's height, about six foot or so."

Akira passed on the way to the fridge and glanced up at the level where Yuna had her hand. "His clumsiness shows."

"Are you jealous that there's another person who's taller than you now?" her friend teased. "In descending order it's Mana, Gary, then Kaede and Simon equal and then there's you and Joseph equal."

"That's hardly something for me to get riled about," retorted the swimmer, pouring herself some juice.

"Just saying, you don't want to miss an opportunity to convert a potential rival to-"

Akira cut in, "No. Let's just leave it at that and why are we going on about something as trivial as height anyway?"

"Other than height. There's also-" Yuna was undeterred from counting off on her fingers a variety of reasons which Akira blocked out by rushing into the bathroom and turning on the shower at full blast.

Yuna sighed and started preparing for them both. She had yet to tell her friend that she heard from Haruna that Gary was single as of yesterday.

* * *

It was the same deal as always. The students stood and bowed before the teacher told them to resume their seats. Much to their embarrassment the boys weren't prepared for this. Simon was slumped in his seat listening to his IPod. His clothes were smeared with grass stains after he was dragged around the green earlier trying to regain control of the Dean's out of control buggy. Gary had gone back to sleep with his head back in his arms. Next to him, Joseph was immersed in the school newspaper.

"Could someone give them a poke?" asked Negi, mildly amused.

Ayaka had her hand up eagerly as usual. "Let me do it. I'll make sure they'll pay you the respect you deserve Negi-sensei."

"Well it's no big deal really as far as I'm concerned so no need to make too much of a fuss about it," said Negi, watching Ayaka march over in front of Joseph's desk in between the other two.

With a sharp rap on the desk she said, "Excuse me but you've got to greet the teacher properly like all of us as soon as he or she enters for homeroom."

Joseph shrunk back a little before looking around at everyone else and replying, "Oh ok. Sorry about that."

He stowed away his paper before tapping Gary on the shoulder and saying, "Hey man. Wake up class is starting."

The boy groaned which prompted Joseph to kick the chair leg before shaking his shoulder.

"Come on. You still hung up over Sherri?" he asked impatiently. "Negi-sensei can't take the role since you're holding up the class."

"What?" Gary raised his head. "Oh sorry about that. Just didn't get enough sleep. Someone worked me into the ground yesterday evening." He glared at Haruna who'd made him stay beyond the library closing hours, laying fibre optic cables in the vents.

Once he was standing last of all was Simon who stared at his empty desk while he jiggled a foot to the tune of whatever he was listening on his IPod. Gary poked him to no avail before he grabbed him by the shoulder and tried to wrench out his earplugs.

Simon shoved his hands away and stood up, saying angrily, "Dammit Roach! Now's not the time to grope me!"

"Whoa, chill man!" exclaimed Joseph, jumping to Gary's defence, the latter looking highly mortified.

A round of giggling made them aware of their surroundings.

"Thanks a lot. Now we all look like fools," Joseph and Gary muttered resentfully.

"They're awfully touchy feely for a trio of guys. And when is it time for Simon-kun to be groped?" Yuna wondered aloud, a dreamy expression on her face.

Ako whipped her head around to stare at her friend in shock. "Why would you want to know that?"

Half the class jumped up and shouted, "Who wouldn't?" Haruna being the loudest of them all.

"Ok, now that we've gotten that out of the way I'll take the roll," Negi announced once things had settled.

Class was a typical affair. Since it was revision, it was expected that the class should be able to answer most of the questions asked by Negi. As usual the Baka Rangers were struggling and the majority of the class had suffered a slump in academic form, especially in the wake of the recent festivities and the prospect of summer vacation. Asuna was stonewalling him since she was ticked off at him for eating the yogurt which she told Chamo she'd reserved for that morning.

"_I guess it'll be up to Ayaka, Chizuru, Kazumi, Nodoka, Konoka and Hakase to bring up the class average, but now we're missing Chao_," thought Negi as he brought up an interquartile distribution of scores across the class on his laptop.

As expected, the current top six aforementioned performers were far ahead of the rest of the class who were all clustered around the median. The Baka Rangers tailed the rest of them by a sizeable margin. He glanced up at the sound of Asuna's curse of frustration.

"Oh Asuna-san, is there something I can help you with?" he asked hopefully, walking over to her desk.

Do his dismay he found the girl playing gomoku with Konoka, only the latter of the pair had finished the assigned work he'd written on the whiteboard.

"How could I lose to you again at this!" bemoaned Asuna, ignoring her teacher while she hastily rubbed out the circles on the grid paper.

"I'll be white this time, I always feel lucky with it," said Konoka, clicking her mechanical pencil. "You first."

"It makes no difference since you'd won each and every game we played," muttered her friend, drawing a small circle on the grid and then shading it in.

With a sigh, Negi checked his watch before returning to the front, clapping his hands once and calling out, "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting but I must warn you that lunch will start in ten minutes so in five minutes I'll be asking for volunteers to answer a few of the questions I set earlier."

He locked eyes with Asuna. "_Better get to work fast if you hadn't already done so_."

Inevitably, asking for volunteers often led to Negi coopting unwilling members of the class to stand and read out their responses which were either in English or Japanese translated from English. Unlike them, back at the Academy he'd always been the first to volunteer to give his answer which put him in the good books of his teachers. To the girls, they did their best to avoid such situations which occurred at the end of each lesson. Fortunately Negi was a highly competent and gentle teacher who never derided, laughed or snarked at them if they got it wrong and/or made a fool of themselves. This didn't stop them from trying to avoid it however.

Immediately Asuna, the Baka Rangers and most of the class pulled their books towards themselves and started scribbling out the rest of their answers. Negi stowed away the folder with 3-A's syllabus content and pulled out the answer booklet for the questions. By the time it was six minutes before the bell he looked up again to see half the class still writing. Of the boys in the back it was only Simon and Gary who were writing. Joseph who appeared to have finished the work had his nose back in his newspaper.

A minute passed so Negi went to the front next to the board and announced, "Heads up class."

Those who were still writing finished off the sentence they were on and looked up.

"At this rate we'll only be able to get through the last few of these. Can I have someone answer this question please?" He pointed it out on the board.

He scanned the class as everyone looked down at their exercise books, silently reading their answers, wondering if they were correct and hoping that the teacher wouldn't choose them.

"Anyone?" asked Negi as he looked about hopefully.

No one.

"Ok I'm volunteering someone."

To the class it was a balancing act between looking too confident and trying to look inconspicuous, hoping that the teacher wouldn't volunteer them. Inevitably, it was always someone's turn.

"Kakizaki-san, would you be so kind?"

Crestfallen, Misa whined, "Aww, Negi. Maybe someone else can answer this one and I'll answer the next question please?"

"Umm…"

It was a move of desperation, occasionally attempted by members of the class and almost all the time by the Baka Rangers. This time however, Misa was in luck.

Her friend, Sakurako jumped up, pointed to the back and exclaimed, "Yeah, why don't we get the three new boys to give their answers?"

Negi objected, "But they're already from an English speaking background-"

His argument was drowned out when the rest of the girls expressed their agreement as well. The boys in question all looked thoroughly embarrassed at being the centre of attention again.

"Ok ok, I'll ask them," their teacher called out to placate them. "But only for today. Could Simon read his answer out?"

"Alright." He stood and gave his answer.

It was all correct to Negi but the delivery was flat and fast which was what he didn't want his class to pick up. Articulation was the key when he picked Joseph next for the second last question. His response was correct as well, problem was that he stuttered a little and had a fairly soft voice, much to the appeal of the girls. On second thoughts it was a good learning experience for them to hear how English was supposed to be pronounced by its native speakers. It was Gary who stood last. The question involved a paragraph in English to be translated into Japanese.

He read from the book in front of him, "I am a vulnerable guy and I need to be held by big strong arms- Wait! What!"

Gary turned over the page to find that it wasn't his handwriting on the preceding pages. The label on the front indicated it belonged to Simon who leaned back in his chair laughing.

Baffled, Negi said, "Umm, are you sure you're reading the right answer?"

No one heard him as the class erupted into laughter and chatter. The bell rang and the students began packing their bags. A paper aeroplane sailed across the room and hit Akira on the head. Annoyed, she snatched it off the ground before unfolding and reading the message scribbled on it.

Big strong arms. That's one criteria, Akira.

Yuna

Even more irritated, she glared across at her friend before tossing it back twice as hard. Yuna had to duck to avoid being impaled by it. Meanwhile Gary angrily rounded on Simon.

"The heck was that for?"

He snatched Joseph's newspaper from his hands and aimed a whack at Simon. He trapped the arm with his own and reached across to grab the rolled up paper with his other hand. He then let go of Gary and twisted back, flinging out his arm with the newspaper. Gary ducked before he snatched up a 30cm ruler from his desk, gripping it underhanded like a combat knife and assuming a combat stance. Simon did the same with his newspaper.

Meanwhile the class had gone silent. This wasn't like one of Ayaka and Asuna's brawls, nor was it a martial arts demonstration like those practised by Ku Fei, Kaede or Chao. Before things got out of hand, Joseph and Negi broke things up by grabbing each of his roommate's shoulders and shaking them.

"Guys, you're making a scene here," said Joseph

The two of them snapped out of it, Simon passed Joseph back his newspaper and Gary put the ruler back in his bag.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Negi, "What was that about?"

"Nothing. Just had to get it out of our system," Gary and Simon replied.

"Well, if you need to let it out physically save it for PE," their teacher warned.

Joseph, noting how embarrassing it was to his roommates to be chastised by a younger teacher, no matter how gently, intervened, "I think they got the message."

Negi nodded and said, "Ok, I hope it won't happen again. You'd best be off, lunch has already started and I need to get back to the staffroom."

"Sorry bout that," Simon apologised. "Just a bit of petty revenge about the start of class."

Gary sighed and replied, "Same here, I guess I overreacted as well."

While the two Brits made up, the girls still hung around, watching and talking amongst themselves.

"Hey lunch has just started, you can all relax now," Negi called from the door as he was just about to leave.

* * *

**I came to the realisation that most of the girls in 3-A are pretty short. As such, the guys' heights are relatively higher than most of the class since the average male height in Britain and the US are around 5 foot 9, a tiny bit higher than Ayaka. **


	23. Approaching the Threshold

**Mr. Time Watcher you can easily subscribe to a Story Alert if you so desire and in any case you've disabled your PM function last I checked. I really can't offer my opinion on best PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 game graphics wise since this is hardly the appropriate venue for such a discussion. **

* * *

3-A had the worst possible timeslot for their PE session which as right after lunch. This meant that the students, after eating, felt sleepy. It didn't help that Bishop loaned an entire assault course from Military Research Club, complete with ropes, zip lines, muddy water and little cover from the early afternoon sun. Everyone had changed into their PE clothes while Bishop wore the school PE instructor uniform.

"Okay, make sure you sign these forms along both dotted lines. Then tear them in half along the broken line and pass the bottom half to me," she ordered as a stack of forms was passed amongst the students.

"What is this?" asked Ku Fei, struggling to make sense of the legalese on the page she held.

Yue explained it as simply as possible for her. "Basically it means you can't sue her or the school if you suffer physical or psychological injury or illness as a direct or indirect consequence of participating in this exercise."

"Fall in!" Bishop called out once the paperwork had been processed.

Everyone formed themselves into rows of eleven, three deep with assistance from Ayaka and the boys.

"Ok everyone. Just for this week we'll be doing something a little different. Does anyone have any allergies, injuries or debilitations that might impede them from completing certain parts of this course?"

No one put their hand up.

"Ok, if there is I can exempt you from completing those sections. I'm telling you this because yesterday someone got an allergic reaction from climbing the ropes. I don't want anything like that happening again," said Bishop seriously before she held up a large white box. "In any case I've got a first aid kit here. I believe Izumi-san and I here are trained in its use."

She nodded at Ako who stood at the front before going on, "There are safety nets for the climbing activities too so don't purposely jump on them for the fun of it? If there's a problem shout out and I'll come to help you. When I blow the whistle, stop what you're doing immediately. No exceptions 'kay?"

The whole class chanted their affirmative before Bishop announced that the course is also a competition with a prize for the winning team.

Misora muttered to Kaede, "This isn't going to be like one of those TV shows with all those crazy stunts?"

The ninja shrugged and replied, "I don't think Bishop-dono has expects that of us." She didn't doubt she'd be able to handle anything that ridiculous reality TV shows threw at her.

"Each obstacle is sectioned off with red or blue. Go only into the indicated area which is the same colour as your armband," said Bishop, walking over to the starting line and holding up a roll of bright orange duct tape. "Line up over here. Two at a time girls, red and blue only. Do not start until I say so."

"May the best lady win," said Misora, lining up next to Kaede as their teacher handed out a red and blue armband to each person in a pair.

"Go!" shouted Bishop.

First in line were Asuna and Ayaka whose rivalry was a legend around the school. The first obstacle was fairly easy, just large pipes in the ground which the girls had to crouch through. Ayaka went through the pipe with red tape above and Asuna through the blue taped one. Once they'd reached the second obstacle Bishop let Mana and Chachamaru go. The two of them had a little difficulty since the former was quite tall and Chachamaru's ears scraped against the top of the pipe's concrete interior, causing much auditory discomfort for her.

Up ahead, Ayaka, who was just ahead of Asuna, turned around and taunted her. The two of them were both trying to traverse a long muddy pit which was bridged by a network of narrow planks and logs.

"Iincho! Are you trying to make me fall off?" an irate Asuna retorted, almost losing her footing but reaching out with her arms and stabilising herself again.

"If it helps me then yes!" the class rep called back. She'd furthered her lead with that distraction.

Back in line, Simon realised that Gary and Joseph had already paired up, leaving him standing next to…

"I get the idea this is going to be so unfair," he commented, looking down at Nodoka who shrunk as he towered over her.

* * *

Negi was teaching another class when he heard the shouting and screaming drifting into the window from the sports field.

"What was that supposed to be?" he wondered aloud.

One of the students put up her hand. "I think that's 3-A trying out the assault course brought in by Bishop-sensei."

There was a knock on the door and Takamichi stuck his head in.

"Oh Negi-sensei, could I have a word?"

The boy nodded and said to his class, "Keep going with those questions. When I come back could everyone please have a response ready for the ninth question? I'll be asking for a volunteer to read later."

He ignored the collective groan from the class as he exited and followed Takamichi into the hallway before shutting the door behind him.

"I apologise for interrupting at such a time, you know what with everyone busy revising for the upcoming tests. Unfortunately I was rather busy throughout lunch so I wasn't able to catch you then," Takamichi spoke first.

Negi waved it off. "It's of no consequence. So what seems to be the problem?"

"Just the issue regarding the exams for the new trio. You got my note I hope?"

It took Negi a moment to remember. "Oh yeah. Setsuna-san handed it over this morning. You're concerned about which language they should take the test in, right?"

The older teacher smiled and continued, "Yeah, seeing as Japanese is a second language and since they transferred just last week it might be necessary to print their papers in English for them."

Negi considered the problem carefully before answering, "Well when they were in my class they had no problem with Japanese at all. I'm pretty confident they'll be able to read the test." He went on as Takamichi opened his mouth. "In any case it wouldn't be fair the other students in the grade whose second language is Japanese like Ku Fei."

Takamichi conceded with a nod. "Fair enough. I didn't want the boys to drag down your class average but they're your students in the end."

* * *

"Up! Up and over!" Bishop barked, watching Hakase struggling to get over a two metre wall. "There's already a line behind you!"

Panting, the young scientist managed to get enough of her upper body onto the edge before she allowed herself to tip over to the other side. Meanwhile Kaede simply hopped over the same wall, rolling expertly and continuing to run while Hakase got back on her feet.

Behind them, Joseph was climbing a very tall frame with ropes as rungs. Above was Madoka who was in the process of clambering over to the other side. As she did so, Joseph copped a sight of something he never wanted to see again. Once he'd gotten down to the bottom he walked over to the side to catch his breath.

Noticing, Bishop walked over and asked, "You alright there? You look a little ill."

"I just saw something no guy should ever have to see," answered Joseph, pointing to his armpits. "I think she forgot to shave this morning."

Bishop stared at him for a moment before grimacing and saying, "Well you shouldn't have been looking there in the first place. Get going now." She then shooed him back to the course.

Up ahead, Simon landed after grabbing onto the flying fox which transported him over another muddy pit. A pulley from the other end allowed the next user to bring the flying fox back.

"Hey Simon-san!" Chizuru called from the rope bridge ahead of him.

"Yeah what is it?"

I think I dropped a button back on that platform on which you were standing. My shirt is too open.

"Right…" Simon decided not to find out if what she's saying was true. Instead he looked down and something small and round caught his eye.

"I think I've got it," he called back, holding up the button.

"Thanks, I'll get it off you at the end. Hey look out!" Chizuru pointed.

Simon turned just to see Fumika and Fuka hanging off the flying fox which was hurtling towards him. With a cry of surprise he was knocked off the platform.

"Sorry Simon-san!" the Narutaki twins apologised as they climbed down onto the walkway over the pit and passed the boy as he spluttered and floundered about, covered in mud. "We couldn't resist!"

Chuckling as she ambled over, Bishop said, "Well keep going. What are you standing there for?"

Towards the front, Gary was crawling as quickly as he could under the net on a long pit. Bishop walked along, kicking up the sand to exhort the students to go faster. It was difficult since the rope was heavy and he constantly had to lift it up to avoid getting his face stuck or his head caught. It also limited his vision so he didn't see the sole of a shoe until he bumped right into it with his forehead.

"Hey watch it!" the girl in front exclaimed.

"Watch what?"

Gary lifted up the ropes to see who it was he'd bumped into. That was when he saw Akira's backside right in front of him.

Looking back, the girl reached up and brought the net crashing back down on Gary.

"No overtaking ok?" she scolded, crawling forward and leaving him behind.

"Hey I wanted to say-"

"Not here, not now," she cut him off.

Gary sullenly conceded, waiting for her to advance a few metres before proceeding at the urgings of the people behind him. Once Akira had reached the end she cast off the heavy ropes and scrabbled to her feet before jogging to the next obstacle which consisted of a pair of platforms two metres apart and separated by a mud-pit. Misora who was already there, did a run-up before mounting the platform and propelling herself into the air and somersaulting onto the opposite side. Akira noticed that she was wearing those strange running shoes again. Looking behind she saw Gary also jogging up.

Wondering when they should talk properly, Akira shrugged before running forward and leaping over the divide. She'd just made it to the edge but she landed flatfooted. After a few seconds of flailing her arms about she regained her balance before she proceeded to the next obstacle. A loud grunt followed by scrabbling made her pause. Gary's run-up jump was inadequate so he only managed to reach the edge with his fingers. Utilising what's left of his upper body strength he tried to pull himself up but found no handhold. There was already mud from everyone else's shoes which smeared the wooden planks he was gripping so his fingers slipped, bringing him back to the brink. He hung there for a second before they gave way. At that moment, Akira appeared overhead and grabbed him by the wrist before hauling him up.

"Thanks," gasped Gary, getting up slowly. "By the way-"

"We're even now," interrupted Akira while ignoring the other girls watching from the other side. "Now I need a head start of five seconds."

"What? Hey wait! What was that about?" he spluttered before he felt someone landing behind him.

"Still mad at you eh? Don't worry, that thing yesterday wasn't your fault so she should come around," teased Kazumi as she passed Gary with a soft punch to the shoulder.

"What, now they tell me it wasn't my fault?" he replied to no one in particular before he realised he'd slipped back a few places and sprinted for the next obstacle.

* * *

De Kere presented himself to the luxury resort in Honolulu that evening; overdressed in comparison to the patrons as they wandered between the pool, spas, buffet table, bar and dance floor. The bouncer waiting by the stairs up to the VIP section glanced a little strangely at de Kere's suit and tie before accepting his invitation letter and stepping aside. The top floor was considerably quieter with men and women chatting at the bar or relaxing on the sofas. There was a balcony overlooking the main floor and another leading outside where some of the patrons had escaped for a little privacy.

The incongruous but soothing tones of classical music drew the terrorist's attention to the corner where he saw a tall elderly gentleman sitting at a grand piano. More shockingly, Graf Wilhelm Josef von Herrmann wore a bright orange Hawaiian shirt, blue shorts, and sandals and was also sporting a tan. The highly ranked demon in disguise was in the middle of the song's coda and had his eyes closed as he passionately brushed the keys with his fingers.

"I wonder if he's related to Mozart or Beethoven, a young man whispered.

His girlfriend replied, "He's a German count, so maybe you could be right Dan"

"The German nobility was abolished with the establishment of the Weimar Republic. In any case it's more likely that his family would have patronised composers like those Dan just mentioned," said Dan's best friend who was trying to impress the girl. "I'm betting that's Chopin."

De Kere tapped him on the shoulder and placed a finger to his lips, all the while giving him a cold, bleak stare with both his real and false eye.

"FYI that's Haydn. Now be quiet and listen."

The man took a step back, frightened and shuffled away so he was on the other side of the couple to which he was being the third wheel. Once the demon finished, everyone on the floor applauded appreciatively. With a smile and a short bow, von Herrmann stood and spotted de Kere.

"Ah! Bastian!" he guffawed loudly, drawing heads as he crossed the room and shook de Kere's hands energetically. "Je suis heureux que vous avez pu vous joindre à moi ce soir!"

Von Herrmann leaned in and whispered, "Or should I say, Vladimir Makarov."

"Guten Abend Herr von Herrmann," de Kere replied quietly in his third language, ignoring the comment.

Before he could say more he was steered over to the bar by the demon who summoned the bartender.

"Put whatever he wants on my tab," Graf von Herrmann ordered, giving de Kere a pat on the back.

"For your French friend here. Of course."

Both the terrorist's real and false eyes flashed angrily in response but he said politely, "Thank you. Lemon, Lime and Bitters please."

He wasn't thirsty but decided to humour the demon- sometimes cordial business partner, sometimes frosty rival.

"I'm sorry sir, I've never heard of that before," the bartender apologised with genuine regret to his credit in de Kere's eyes.

"Half fill a glass with ice cubes, add two teaspoons of Crodino non-alcoholic bitters, swirl then add 4 parts lemonade and one part of lime cordial," he instructed before turning to the demon.

"On the straight and narrow I see," commented von Herrmann ironically, sipping his beer. "Our mutual friend contacted me in regards to you and your destination. What can I do for you?"

De Kere didn't answer immediately as he watched the bartender at work. "As you may know I've got work in Japan for the next month or so."

"Oh?" The demon didn't look ready to discuss business as he stood and beckoned for de Kere to follow him through the glass doors to the balcony outside. "I hope you enjoyed Vegas before it got messy down there."

De Kere shrugged as he sat opposite the demon at a table and sipped his drink. "I was involved in the logistics. To Morales, the Cabreros and Nowak I was just a gringo coyote-drug cartel liaison."

"Naturally," said von Herrmann, looking out on the water and lights of the city on the other side pensively.

Knowing from firsthand experience that demons won't be rushed to business, de Kere decided to get the small talk done and over with. "How are the Slime Sisters?" Even though he disliked the trio.

Von Herrmann turned back and answered, "Oh I was able to bribe a mage into releasing them. They're still with me. After Japan, we travelled a bit through the Phillipines, Singapore and then Australia." He grimaced when he mentioned the last destination. "It was Pudding's idea actually. We had no idea it was so cold down there. But then they all snagged themselves a boy each and they nagged me to come here with them."

De Kere stared at the demon's fatherly smile once he'd finished. To him it seemed inconceivable that von Herrmann had become that attached to the Slime Sisters.

"_Annoying little balls of slime. What do their boyfriends see in Cellulite, Jello and Pus?_"

Noticing that de Kere was crunching on the ice cubes from his glass, von Herrmann decided to forgo the pleasantries.

"I was told to assist you in any matter practical tonight without having to set foot in Japan again," he said, finishing his beer and pushing it to the side.

De Kere stopped his crunching and swallowed. "It's a black bag op. Three primary HVIs, one secondary. All the rest are disposable."

The demon looked like he was half listening as he was gazing out at the vista gain and mumbled, "Go on."

Helplessly irked at von Herrmann's laid back manner, the only thing the terrorist could do was add a little more sternly, "All attend Mahora Academy."

That perked up von Herrmann's ears as he beckoned for the waiter. "I'll need another drink."

* * *

Red and blue team were both exhausted at the end of their run of the assault course. The normally energetic Class 3-A all lounged about on the grass of the sports field as Bishop tabulated the results based on the average finishing time of all the students. Some of them were over by a concrete wall, their shoes laid to the side as they cleaned off the mud, dirt and sand with buckets of water and sponges. They would have a proper shower once Bishop dismisses them back to the change rooms. As Simon sat on a nearby bench with his back turned, waiting for the girls to finish, a wet sponge flew and hit him on the back.

"Hey! Over here! Simon-kun!"

In spite of his better judgement his better judgement he turned around in irritation, snatching the sponge off his back. What he saw was Yuna with her clothes completely soaked, allowing him almost to see…

"Oh my god! Don't tempt me like that!" he exclaimed without thinking, covering his face with the sponge.

Unfortunately the water in the sponge was impregnated with soap which stung his eyes. Half blinded, he staggered away much to the amusement of the other girls. Meanwhile, Asuna and Ayaka were arguing again when Bishop announced that she couldn't produce a definite winner. However it quickly got out of hand when the two of them fell into the mudpit. Their new PE teacher was forced to use a water hose on full blast to get them to cease.

"Very undignified of you two ladies," Bishop observed as the two of them apologised, dripping muddy water from their clothes and hair. "Don't let it happen again."

She turned back to the class and said, "Ok. You've all done enough. You all look thoroughly tired so I'll let you off now."

As they all shuffled off for the changerooms she called out, "It's not going to get any easier next time!"

Along the way, Gary caught up with Akira.

"Hey. I think you and I need to talk. Both about yesterday and today to a lesser extent," he spoke quickly as the girl increased her pace.

She glanced at him and replied, "There really isn't much to say other than I overreacted to the incident yesterday. I never got around to apologising but I guess that saving your but from falling makes us even now?"

"I suppose it does," answered Gary, unaware that everyone else was watching their every move as they walked together.

"Let's hope that that incident won't drive a wedge between us in future," said Akira stiffly as they went inside.

The two of them stopped at the door and Gary asked, "You obviously know who I am but what is yours? I never got around to asking."

She opened the door, turned and said, "Okochi Akira, and this is the door to the girls changeroom."

Joseph passed by and commented, "That's ice cold man. You'd wanna have a nice hot shower after that."

Behind them Simon rushed for the boys change room, pursued by Yuna with facewasher in hand.

"No I don't need someone else to clean my face thank you very much!" his shouts echoed back through the hall.

"But you need to. Your eyes have gone totally red!" Yuna shouted back.

Just then Nitta stuck his head out of a classroom.

"You two! Freeze!" he commanded.

The two of them skidded to a halt as the irate teacher stepped out into the corridor and slammed the door behind him. Joseph and Gary hid in an alcove and watched.

"What were you two doing? Running in the corridors and causing a racket while class is still on? Don't you realise that everyone else is busy revising for the pending tests?" Nitta chastised them both while his spectacles flashed dangerously.

"Umm…" Yuna and Simon both lacked an adequate excuse.

Nitta regarded the two of them before he announced his verdict. "Until the bell rings in twelve minutes squat over there. He pointed to the wall just by the door to his classroom."

Puzzled, Simon followed Yuna over to the spot, the latter looking visibly upset. Yuna assumed the seiza position like she did during the trip to Kyoto. Simon who was unfamiliar with Nitta's cruel and unusual punishment had a little more trouble with it. Satisfied, Nitta sternly warned them not move or else he'll find them both the next day. It was only once he'd returned to his class, muttering something about Yuna's dad being very disappointed, and resumed his lesson that either of them dared to speak. The other two boys watching tiptoed past, making faces at Simon who shook his fist back in response. It wasn't long before they'd disappeared into the boys changerooms and then the two of them were alone.

To fill the silence, Simon shifted uncomfortably and said, "What is this? A stress position? Where did he learn it from?"

Sighing, Yuna answered listlessly, "The seiza position. He uses it sometimes if it's an offence that doesn't warrant a detention."

"Ok… so it has cultural origins huh?"

They could both feel the circulation cutting off to their toes.

"You know, I didn't think that this punishment would suck that badly."

There was silence again as the pins and needles settled in, making them both wince. Even though the discomfort was bad, the sight of Yuna made Simon feel even worse.

"Hey… Sorry about getting us into this. I shouldn't have run when you offered to help."

He nodded at the facewasher which was still clenched in Yuna's hand.

"No I shouldn't have chased you like that. You were okay then. It was just so… inconsiderate on my part," she replied, shaking her head.

"Well now that you're here and if it'll cheer you up, how about you help me out now. My eyes are still stinging and that's the last thing I need while my legs are dying here," added Simon, pointing to his face.

"Are you sure?" Yuna looked up with traces of a hopeful smile on her mouth.

"Well I heard you look after your dad quite well. Try me."

With that she reached over with the facewasher in hand and delicately started wiping Simon's eyes first.

As she did so, she said, "I'll be careful. Don't you worry."

Simon tried to find a spot to concentrate on as the cloth moved over his face away from his eyes.

"You looked like you were about to cry for a sec earlier."

Yuna flushed and retorted, "Well you're not looking so great either. You should go look in a mirror."

The bell rang and all of a sudden everyone was piling out onto the corridor.

With a check of her watch, Yuna realised how quickly the time had passed while she was busy. There was a sudden clamour and squealing which made them two look up. There they saw the rest of 3-A clustered around them, freshly showered and in clean clothes.

"You two looked so cute just now!"

"Even if you were being punished."

"I don't think they would have minded being punished together."

They both jumped to their feet rushed for the changerooms to avoid their classmates' queries.

* * *

**As usual I'm keen for any feedback. **


	24. Post Exam

Since Negi made his intentions known to the girls with whom he already had pactios and the girls who were also aware of magic save for Misora, all that was left was to prepare for the tests before summer break. It took a great deal of reading, revising, practising, whining, all-nightering, crying, cajoling, coercing, kicking and screaming before 3-A remotely felt confident enough to attempt the exams. The Baka Rangers had worked their backsides under duress from Ayaka who was absolutely determined to extract the same miracle the class had performed on their previous exam. It took some adjusting for the boys to do their practise tests in Japanese, in accordance with the exam guidelines and with the Mahora middle school curriculum.

"Ok, this is it, we do this right and we're all off the hook," said Asuna.

She and the rest of the Baka Rangers were in a group huddle just outside their classroom.

"Any last minute tips?" asked Makie, looking pointedly at Yue who shook her head.

Ku Fei had a last minute question, "Wait a sec. A line from the centre of a circle which bisects a chord is perpendicular to it right?"

"Yes. We went over that an hour ago," said Asuna, "if you're having trouble recite it again."

Ku Fei did just that, muttering it under her breath which disturbed Kaede who said, "Could you possibly recite that in your head? I mean I don't want to get it mixed with the alternate segment theorem."

"Sorry."

Yue decided to conclude the meeting, quietly saying, "Good luck to you all."

All five Rangers put their hands in the centre of their group and raised them quietly. All the other students were scattered about the corridor outside the classroom, waiting for the exam supervisor to unlock the door. To their disappointment it was Nitta who arrived, unlocking the door and beckoning for the class to enter. All the desks were cleaned of doodles and had an answer booklet on top. Once everyone was seated, Nitta took the roll and handed out the question booklets while sternly reminding them not to open them until he said otherwise.

* * *

Fortunately, the battery of tests only lasted until one in the afternoon. Immediately after, everyone spilled out from the buildings onto the courtyard in celebration. Immediately everyone was off, heading out for parties or going out to the shopping districts.

Outside, going down the stairs to the plaza containing the world tree Konoka was excitedly sharing her plans for the summer break with her friends.

"How about we go for karaoke again Set-chan? Misa-san, Sakurako-san and Madoka-san are going," she said to Setsuna.

The young swordswoman sighed inwardly, remembering how she'd made a fool out of herself last week, joining Konoka at the cheerleader's dorm for karaoke.

Instead she suggested, "Perhaps we should go and see what Asuna-san and Negi-sensei are doing?"

"Hmm, Negi's was taken by Gary to the sports centre. I think they're playing cricket there or something like that," answered Konoka, taking her friend and bodyguard by the hand and leading the way. "Come on, let's hurry now! Let's go find them now!"

Setsuna repressed another sigh at her ward's sudden change of intention as she followed as best she could.

* * *

"Possible ID on Konoe, Konoka," reported the man watching the camera spike feed.

He was one of the surveillance specialists from Charlie team, only known by his codename as Monitor 3. Charlie Supervisor was the man in charge of the team which was assigned with scouting the school grounds and keeping tabs on the targets. Currently their base of operations was based in an apartment building on the outskirts of the campus. Hearing this, the Supervisor crossed the room to Monitor 3's workstation. Every room of the flat save for the bathroom was taken up by desks, computers of varying sizes and notice boards. Photos, papers, wires, hardware and fast food containers littered the floor and every bit of space on an elevated surface.

"Ok…" muttered Charlie Supervisor, comparing the face on the screen to a copy of the 3-A class roll he'd obtained from the Kanto mole.

* * *

"Come on, Negi-san!" Gary complained after another flawless delivery.

Unfortunately the cricket bat in Negi's oversized gloved hands was simply too unwieldy. As such the ball slipped right under his arms and hit the back of the nets.

"Aww. Darn. I showed you how to swing properly, just block it like I showed. Gary performed the requisite motion from the far side of the nets. Negi's hair got in the way of his eyes inside his helmet so he couldn't see properly.

"Let's try it again," Gary announced, not hearing Negi's request for another few practise swings.

The boy teacher, now officially off-duty for the holidays grumbled a little and took up a ready stance again. It was at Asuna's insistence that he join everyone in relaxing for the first stage of the holidays before they departed for Britain. Gary ran up and delivered a relatively slow spinning ball which hit the ground about a metre in front of Negi. The sudden change in direction from the ball's bounce threw Negi off balance so the ball flew right past his face and hit the back of the nets again.

"Seriously man, watch the run-up and the way my wrist moves. If it's short and my wrist appears to turn it generally means I'm going for a spin. If it's long and my wrist moves in a linear motion in line with my arm it means I'm going for pace," an exasperated Gary explained again.

"Hey there!" someone called out from the entrance, making them both turn.

Konoka ran up to the nets, dragging Setsuna behind.

"You both look like you're in a hurry. What's the rush?" asked Gary.

"I heard the two of you were playing cricket and I wanted to see you guys at it," Konoka replied, letting go of Setsuna and dropping her bag.

"Uhh, it's not really much at the moment. Just Gary pegging the ball at me and me trying to hit it back," said Negi, waddling over in his cricket whites and protective gear.

Konoka turned, looked Negi up and down and then broke out into laughter.

"Negi! What on earth are you wearing? You're too small for that gear!"

A little miffed, Negi replied, "It's necessary when you consider how hard Gary bowls at me." He reached up and wriggled the helmet off his head before dropping his gloves. "Would either of you like try?"

* * *

"I found it!" Simon announced, extracting the school library's copy of The Anarchist Cookbook from a pile of papers and books on his desk.

Their dorm had undergone a thorough transformation over the week, at least on Simon's side of the room. While Gary and Joseph had made an effort to keep their spaces moderately clear and prevented Simon from intruding, the rest of their shared space was littered with papers, books, boxes and various computer hardware. So much so that Simon had given up his bunk bed above Joseph and slept in a sleeping bag amongst his study notes.

"Ouch! Goddammit why don't you keep your computer on a desk like normal people do?" complained Joseph, stubbing his toe while trying to reach his wardrobe.

"I'll get onto that later and hurry up! Why are you ironing your clothes now?" asked Simon, hopping onto the kitchen counter and sitting there while he reread the book.

"Well it's the holidays so you won't be wearing your school uniform five days a week any longer. Most of my casual wear has been stuck folded for too long in my wardrobe anyway," replied Joseph, "Once I'm done with this shirt I'll join you."

At that moment the phone for their dorm rang. Immediately Simon got off the counter and tried to reach it. Joseph, not thinking at all, lifted up the hot iron to his ear.

"Hel- Owww! F**k!"

He dropped the tool and tired to get to the bathroom but tripped over a pile of boxes.

"What out mate," said Simon as he changed direction and waded over to Joseph.

By the time he'd gotten Joseph into the bathroom and replaced the iron safely onto the board, the caller whoever it was had disconnected. Since it was a landline phone used by the students to connect to the school switchboard, emergency services, security or to other dorms directly, there was no caller ID displayed.

"So who was it?" Joseph called from the bathroom over the loud gushing of the tap.

"Dunno. I didn't get there in time," replied Simon, turning to see Joseph come out and commenting, "Geez, looks like you got sunburnt on one side of your face."

Joseph scowled and applied some salve he'd gotten from the bathroom medicine cabinet to the reddened skin where he'd been burnt.

"I'll finish up with that later, let's go," he said, putting his wallet into his pocket and following Simon to the front door.

The two of them jumped at the noise of loud tapping from that door.

"Just a sec, we're about to leave," answered Simon.

He unlocked it but could only wedge it open fifteen degrees.

"Move the umbrella stand dude," Joseph pointed out.

"You you need me to push?" asked Yuna from the other side, almost making Simon drop the stand.

"No no, that won't be necessary," he answered, sounding quite shaken. "Is there something you need?"

"Don't be rude to your girlfriend, open the door already," teased Joseph.

"She's not so take that back and make me a sandwich," ordered Simon, pointing a finger at Joseph.

"Real men make their own sandwiches and do their own ironing," his roommate countered.

The door at that moment slammed open, knocking Simon forward onto his stomach and almost impaling him on a borrowed golf putter. Unfortunately he felt another impact on the back of his shoulders.

"Is that you Yuna?" he muttered, trying with difficulty to turn his head.

"Well duh, you weren't expecting me?" she replied before noticing Joseph. "Hello Joseph-san."

As Joseph returned the greeting, Simon said, "I wasn't. I don't recall asking you to come over this week."

Yuna tapped him on the head with a fist and removed his sunglasses from around his neck.

"Silly, I told you we were going to hang out last Saturday? Didn't you forget?"

Simon rolled his eyes, casting his mind back to that moment last week.

"Now that you reminded me... Well Joe and I were about to go shopping…"

He looked uncertainly at his roommate who also seemed undecided on letting Yuna know about the nature of the items they intended to procure.

Yuna nodded and said, "Well it can wait, the shops don't close until this evening."

While she said this, Simon tried to lift himself up until he realised just how Yuna was sitting on him.

"Wait a sec… Are you still in uniform?" he asked evenly, though he couldn't help but blush.

"Oh, oops."

Yuna jumped off, flattening down her skirt as Simon got up. He ignored Joseph's grin and turned around.

"Ok, so you want to-"

He was cut off when Yuna edged past him and entered the dorm. For a few seconds she stared at the mess before walking over to the window at the far side and returning to stand in front of Simon. He and Joseph remained stock still, watching in evident trepidation though it applied more to the former.

"You and your friends have been living like this for a week? Wallowing about in your own filth?"

Yuna sounded genuinely shocked, especially considering the spick and span state of the dorm she and Akira kept.

"I can't believe it. I thought my dad was disorganised but you're just as bad."

Joseph interjected, "Hey, Gary and I try to keep our zones clear. Just saying you know…"

Yuna ignored him, focusing her full attention on Simon. If it was anyone else he'd tell them to rack off. This time he felt a slight twinge of chastisement as he looked past Yuna at the sorry state of the dorm.

"Ok… I'm open to suggestions," he replied slowly.

Yuna's frown disappeared and she smiled widely.

"Excellent. Let us go and get your dorm tidied up," she said, grinning and pumping a fist, "Don't worry, my dad and I have to do this once a month for his flat as well."

Simon's face fell for a second before saying, "Yeah sure, us… and Joe's going to help right?"

He looked around but found his roommate was nowhere to be seen. A draught entering the room drew his gaze to the open window. Stumbling over he looked out and saw Joseph on the ground, limping for a few steps before seemingly recovering and breaking out into a jog.

"Hey! Get back here!" he called out.

Joseph turned and yelled back, "You're on your own dude! Sorry!"

"Useless wanker!" shouted Simon, slipping back into his East End London accent.

* * *

Monitor 7 cringed at the burst of sound over his headphones. On the feed, he had the camera spike pointed directly at the window from a concealed location. Charlie Supervisor stepped over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Something wrong?"

"No. That's definitely their dorm room. And one of our HVI has just jumped."

"Did he harm himself?" asked the Supervisor quickly, hoping it might be serious enough to necessitate a prolonged hospital stay. The easier to reach them if they're confined.

"Umm, no. Apart from what looks like a sore ankle he appears perfectly fine," replied Monitor 7, "That and the other one isn't nearly as potty mouthed as his former self."

* * *

"That's a six!" exclaimed Gary, watching as the ball sailed up and hit the high ceiling of the sports centre and bounced back down at the other side.

Konoka's cheering was drowned out by the applause of the spectators who's gathered at a safe distance from the cricket nets. Garbed in cricket whites, protective gear and a bat, Setsuna waved to Gary to signal her readiness. Behind her and the stumps was Negi as the wicket keeper. He tensed when he saw Gary sauntering back for his run-up.

The delivery was swift and would bounce almost a foot away from Setsuna. Years of training had attuned her reflexes greatly and allowed her to judge where it would bounce. As well as this she could pinpoint Gary's body movements to assist in predicting the ball's behaviour. While the bat was a cumbersome instrument even in comparison to a baseball bat, she'd quickly attuned herself to it, much like the practise weapons she'd mastered during her training.

Gary's pace ball was fast, long and low. Most batsmen would have reacted defensively by retracting their forward leg while bring forward their bat to block. The shinmei-ryu practitioner simply swung early in a diagonal sweep, catching the ball just as it bounced up off the ground. Negi gasped in wonder as the ball ricochet off the net walls as Gary rushed forward, attempting to catch it before it touched the ground. He failed, spilling forward and scraping his elbows on the rough cricket turf and a smear of blood.

There was mixed applauds and gasps of shock and concern at the spectacle. As a grimacing Gary slowly got up, Negi, Setsuna and Konoka rushed over. Gary's left elbow was okay since there were patches of scar tissue covering it. However his right forearm which was still covered in badges was badly scraped and bleeding, the stitches having ripped.

"Ouch, you'll need to go to the infirmary after that," said Negi, examining the wound with Konoka looking over his shoulder.

Setsuna looked a little embarrassed as she said, "I suppose I shouldn't have pushed you too far. If I'd-"

Gary cut her off, "It's of no consequence. I've had worse happen before. I shouldn't have pushed myself when I had this on." He pointed to the bloody bandages which Negi tried to rewrap as best he could. "Thanks Negi-san. I'll keep pressure on this until I get to the infirmary."

"Do you need us to accompany you?" asked Konoka. Negi and Setsuna could tell she was itching to offer the use of her artefact.

"That won't be necessary, though could you get my schoolbag from the change room please?" Gary requested to Negi.

"Of course. You'd best be off then," he replied.

Gary was able to smile even as the blood started to trickle past his bandages down his fingers.

"I'll race you there then."

* * *

Chisame eyed Joseph suspiciously from the other end of the aisle. The shelves consisted of toiletries and Chisame stood at the women's products section. Her hostile countenance seemed to dare the hapless Joseph to walk past as he looked uncertainly past her towards the next aisle where he wanted to go.

"_Potential hostile at 12 o'clock_," he thought nervously.

Breathing deep and ignoring the items on the shelves past him, he strode forward and sidestepped Chisame. Once he was clear he breathed a sigh of relief before hurrying off to buy the next item on his list.

As he passed, Chisame stole a glance at the items in Joseph's shopping basket. Lots of soap, a potato peeler, a few bottles of alcohol based handwash, a large tin of shoe polish, a couple of packets of starch thickener and a large jar of Vaseline. She looked back at her own basket. Lipstick, beauty sets, USB flash drives, a stack of empty dvds, packets of chips and a large jar of Vaseline. She did a double take at the last item.

"_What could he possibly want with Vaseline? Could he be the one who's challenging my online status?_"

As Joseph started scanning the shelves he wondered, "_What need could she have with Vaseline as well? Surely she didn't read the book too?_"

At that moment the proprietor of the general store announced that due to unforeseen circumstances, he would have to close up early. Apologising for the inconvenience, he added that the store would be open for a few hours longer than usual for the weekend to make up for it. Immediately the shoppers quickly made a beeline for the counter. Disappointed that he couldn't find the tennis balls, Joseph joined the queue as well.

* * *

Inside his apartment, de Kere was reading a Japanese-English language guide. Inside the waste paper bin next to his desk there were Japanese-French, Dutch and German guides which he'd found too difficult to get through. There weren't any for Flemish. Translating to English was easiest so far and he'd been practising hard along with his subordinates.

On the laptop in front of him there were several files open, all helpfully translated by the mole from Kanto who was regularly providing info via dead drops just outside the campus grounds. Details on the students who were a threat supplemented the first hand information de Kere had heard from von Hermann. The shikigami generating technique and several of the artefacts were of interest to de Kere as well, most notably the Diarium Ejus, Sceptrum Virtuale and Regina Medicans. In fact all the artefact holders were dangerous. On the copy of the 3-A role he'd written Marked for Liquidation under their names.

The other issue at hand was to obtain the Hina blade. The mole in Kanto was unable to uncover anything without drawing the attention of the Kansai Magic Association. The recent crisis involving Amagasaki Chigusa, Fate, Kotaro and Tsukuyomi had only strengthened relations between the rival organisation. De Kere had already run a feasibility study on decapitating both Kanto and Kansai Associations but ruled it out as he was short on staffing. If he'd a fraction of the resources utilised in the Vegas operation then that might be a different story. Meanwhile the situation in Magicus Mundus was fluid. Things could jump either way for Burnett and ITRAD so he was content to allow his colleagues to finalise their preparations. That and he needed to deal with the Task Force 141 problem as soon as he was able.

* * *

"Hello? Hakase-san?"

Joseph knocked on the door to the lab and leaned in, looking for Satomi.

"Yeah what is it?" asked the young scientist who had her head inside a cabinet on the other side of the room.

"I'm doing an independent scientific experiment but the building administrator wasn't in. Could you possibly direct me to a chemistry lab?" he asked, hiding the contents of the large shopping in the corridor.

"Yeah sure."

Satomi hurriedly left the lab and beckoned for Joseph to follow. A few rooms down she took the keycard from around her neck and swiped it on the reader. Pulling open the unlocked door she entered and flicked on the lights as well as the ventilation fans. The lab was neat and clear unlike her lab.

"If your reagents produce fumes make sure to use the fume cupboards."

She pointed to a bench which was partly enclosed by a large box with a pipe connected to the ventilation shafts along the ceiling.

"Safety glasses, gloves and labcoats are here if you need to borrow them."

Satomi opened a cupboard and a shelf below that, exposing the aforementioned safety clothing.

"Repack when you're done. I'm sure you know the rules from science class," she concluded, exiting the lab.

"Yeah, this is perfect."

"I'll be in the lab if you need me."

Once he was sure that Satomi was back in her lab and preoccupied with whatever it was she was working on, Joseph unpacked his bags and stacked the items on a bench. For this first experiment he'd have to start small scale.

* * *

"Why is it that I'm not surprised you're back in here again," said Ako as soon as Shizuna had finished with the stitching and cast application.

"I just happen to be accident prone I guess," replied Gary.

He held his arm still as Ako bandaged it.

"No kidding. You suck at long jumps. Everyone saw you stumble on that obstacle and then Akira-san had to save you."

There was silence for a while before Gary said, "You're a friend of her right?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?"

"Rather cold woman isn't she?"

Ako tightened the bandages, squeezing the cast painfully.

"She's actually a very nice person. I've been her friend for only a few years and she's like a big sister to me. Perhaps you'll need to get to know her better."

Once she was finished with the bandaging she packed up the suture kit while Gary flexed his fingers.

"This time we put a cast on it. It's got a waterproof lining so you'll be able to wash with it. The doctor recommended you extend your antibiotic regime or another week as well," said Shizuna as she re-entered the room. "Try to be careful this time."

Gary shrugged in embarrassment, saying, "Hey I'm sorry, I can't really help it you know."

The nurse sighed and said, "Go to the waiting room. I'll be back later with the prescription. Izumi-san could you follow me please? "

Back in the waiting room he found Negi and Chamo watching TV with his schoolbag next to the coffee table.

"Hello there Negi-san," he greeted, sitting down behind them.

"Oh hi there," replied Negi and the ermine.

"Thanks for getting my bag. You didn't need to wait here for me though."

Negi waved it off. "No it's alright. Everyone's off enjoying themselves. I just need a little time to think to myself that's all."

Gary looked at his teacher for a while and said, "You're awfully serious for a ten year old. Anyone around you for ten minutes knows something's forced you to grow up fast."

Negi closed his eyes, knowing that the boys would have to know the truth by tomorrow.

"Let's just say I came from a broken home," he replied, looking up at Gary. "And I was raised by my sister."

There was an expression of scepticism on his face for a second before he said, "I'm sorry to hear that. You must be a real prodigy to be teaching here."

"Well... That isn't exactly the case. I've got to pull my weight like everyone else. It's harder staying at the top than it is to make it there," replied Negi quietly.

"I guess I understand."

Chamo decided to break the silence by pulling out a pen and saying, "Say, do you want your cast signed?"

Gary looked down at the ermine with a raised eyebrow.

"I suppose so. Since when did pine martens give themselves names?"

"Chamo will do," replied the ermine, "And for the record I'm an ermine."

"Fine, fine I'll try and remember that," replied Gary, holding out his casted arm. "Be gentle, it feels tender."

Chamo nodded and delicately inscribed his name in a calligraphic font on the cast before handing it over to Negi who signed it too.

"Hope it gets well soon," he said, knowing full well it mostly likely would happen by tomorrow.

Gary thanked them both before noticing Ako at the desk holding a pill bottle, a cup and a couple of forms.

"Ok, once I get that we can go," he said, getting up.

At the desk Ako passed him the bottle and told him to sign the form. At that moment he heard footsteps approaching. Akira stopped next to him at the counter. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her glance over before moving away and beckoning over to her friend.

Quietly they conversed before Ako nodded and said to Gary, "If you've finished the paperwork I'll take that back and you may go."

He nodded and thanked her before handing over the documents and picking up the pill bottle. Once she'd left, Gary read the instructions on the side of the bottle, pretending not to know that Akira was there.

"So what happened this time?" asked Akira, pointing to his cast.

"Sporting injury," replied Gary, holding up his arm. "In case you're wondering, I'm doing fine."

Akira looked at him strangely and said, "Always getting hurt huh? Ako-san told me last week you split that same arm open. Do yourself a favour and be careful."

Mildly irritated, Gary replied, "It's not always my fault something happens to me now is it? And what is it you're doing here?"

Akira huffed and answered, "That's none of your business now is it?"

"Ok, I guess it's something for you to know and me to find out is it?"

"Well you certainly don't need to know."

"Fair enough," said Gary as he shrugged on his bag. "Whatever it is, get well soon."

He unscrewed the bottle and shook out a pill before chasing it down with a gulp of water from the cup in front of him. There was a sudden pain along the recently stitched gash under the cast.

"There," said Akira, letting go of his cast and recapping her pen. "Same to you too."

Gary shook his arm, trying to disperse the pain before saying tersely, "Thanks."

He left abruptly with Negi and Chamo in tow, both of them forming a joint conclusion.

* * *

"Iincho!" shouted Asuna, catching up with Ayaka outside the dorms.

"Oh, Kagurazaki-san. Can I help you?" the class rep turned and crossed her arms as Asuna approached.

"I need a favour from you," she panted, stopping and doubling over to catch her breath.

"Ok, shoot."

"I was thinking of forming a club during the summer break," said Asuna, "I was wondering if you could kindly get the preliminaries done. I'll handle the rest and get approval from the Dean."

Ayaka eyed her rival and friend sceptically and replied, "It's a little bit tardy now isn't it? I'm not sure if admin will be able to process it now that the tests are being marked but I'll see what I can do."

Asuna nodded and smiled. "Thanks. Oh and one more thing-"

She was cut off when Ayaka suddenly called out as Negi rounded the corner, followed by Chamo and Gary.

"Negi-sensei!"

The class rep ran over to her teacher who looked totally caught off guard as Ayaka began fawning over him. Everyone else merely looked on in mortification.

"Ok… Keep on walking," muttered Chamo to Gary.

They both edged around the pair over to Asuna who looked thoroughly indignant at the interruption.

"Nothing unusual I guess," Chamo commented as they stopped next to her.

"Ugh, couldn't have chosen a worse time to turn up," she grumbled.

"Yo! Asuna-san! Gary-san!" another voice made them turn as Kazumi came running up, taking care not to let her camera swing too much.

"Why are you lot still out here? Shouldn't you be celebrating? I mean I haven't enough fingers to count the number of parties on," she said drawing to a stop in front of the three.

"We would but there's still a few things I need organised before I can fully relax," replied Asuna before approaching Ayaka who was attempting to drag Negi with her.

"Hey enough of that you two!"

Ayaka glared at her said, "What is it now?"

"Every time Negi-bozu appears on the scene you lose all concentration. Why's that?" Asuna demanded to know. "Don't answer that actually, it's pretty clear even to the new people you're an irredeemable shotacon."

The class rep rounded on her angrily. "That's saying a lot from you. I heard you'd gotten over Takahata-sensei. Well it doesn't mean you've gotten over older men entirely now does it?"

Once again the two of them were at each other's throats. Negi stammered and dithered about as he tried to regain control of the situation.

"Normally the physical presence of a teacher should prevent altercations like this from happening right?" asked Gary.

"Yeah but Takahata-sensei has had to separate them himself on more than one occasion," said Kazumi.

"Is a teacher allowed to lay hands on a student?" Gary went on. "I mean my parents were about to send me to Eton. Not sure if they still use the cane there."

A brief image of a Nitta lookalike in black schoolmaster's robes with a flexible rattan telling Gary to Bend Over flashed through the minds of Chamo and Kazumi. The latter stifled a giggle and blushed but otherwise remained straight faced.

"Well that Nitta-sensei just tells you to sit in the seiza position. It's a verbal command but that's as far as things go here," said Chamo after a shudder.

At that moment Yue came up from behind and said, "It'd be battery if Negi or any teacher touched a student without consent. Technically those are grounds to sue."

Chamo, Kazumi and Gary jumped up at the sound of her voice.

"Whoa! What are you doing here?" asked Kazumi, almost stepping on Chamo.

Yue took a pull from the two straws stuck into the juice box she held before saying, "I'm here to deliver a message to Gary that the Library Expeditionary Group will be suspending all activities for the rest of the week."

"Ok, thanks for letting me know."

A loud ripping noise made everyone look up. An extremely mortified Asuna stood there with fabric of the sleeve of her school shirt having detached along the seams. Unfortunately it allowed everyone else to see just what she had underneath. Negi stood there stunned with a fistful of the detached sleeve, shocked.


	25. Summer Break Begins

**The recent trailers and stuff released about Modern Warfare 3 has got me stoked. The series is truly epic and I'm expecting an awe inspiring conclusion. The same goes for Mahou Sensei Negima. I'll reaffirm the fact that I don't own either franchise. Anyway in my excitement I was compelled and inspired to write this chapter ahead of time. That and the fact that I'd run into a writers block for my latest fic. :S **

* * *

"You know what Negi-bozu?" snarled Asuna, putting on a jacket over her torn shirt. "Incidents like these are grounds to sue." She leaned threateningly close to Negi's face. "Considering how you're a teacher and I'm a student such a tort can really get real serious."

Ayaka interrupted by pointing at Asuna and announcing, "You dare to play the legal card now? I as the scion of the Yukihiro family will employ Japan's best and brightest lawyers for your defence Negi-sensei!"

"_She's got a point there…_" Yue, Chamo, Gary and Negi conceded.

Asuna got the point too raising her fist and gritting her teeth. "_Damn… She wins this one! What's worse than a shotacon is a shotacon with deep pockets and a dedicated legal team_."

"Whatever! Let's go!" she grumbled, grabbing Negi and dragging him off before shouting at Ayaka, "You'd better get that paperwork done! And no army of lawyers is going to save you from my wrath!"

"You know that really wasn't necessary you know!" Negi stammered once they were out of earshot. "I mean I'll gladly pay for a new shirt-"

Asuna cut him off. "My wardrobe's been destroyed twice over between you and the pervert ermine since you both arrived. If I needed you to pay for replacements I would have done it already."

She stopped in front of their dorm and unlocked the door. Gary, Chamo and Yue followed behind. Kazumi however left as soon as she'd received a party invite by text.

"In any case I've got a new punishment for you Negi-bozu! One which wasn't possible until the change in cirumstances last week."

Asuna went inside. They could hear her rummaging about before she returned and tossed out an overnight bag. Inside were a change of clothes, toiletries and Negi's pyjamas.

"Exile."

Negi stared at the open bag and then Asuna's retreating form through the door before panic set in.

"Nnnnooo!"

* * *

It'd taken the rest of the afternoon but Simon and Yuna were finished with cleaning up the dorm. With a sigh the former slumped into the sofa and switched on the TV. The noise of the toilet flushing and the tap running alerted him to the fact that Yuna was about to come out. Hastily he repositioned himself so he lay on the sofa and pretended to be napping. After the door opened he heard footsteps going heading towards the kitchenette. Was she going to raid the fridge? So long as Yuna stayed away from the leftover jelly he wouldn't get mad. There was a gasp before the fridge door slammed and the footfalls turned into stomping.

"Hey Simon? What on earth have you guys been living on this past week?" Yuna demanded to know.

He ignored her.

"Hey!"

Something hard hit him on the head.

"What?" he opened his eyes and picked up the fruit and nuts bar which Yuna had thrown at him. "Don't throw those. They're hard enough to break your teeth if you're not careful and they even have sharp edges."

"I knew there was something about those suspicious empty packages I keep seeing. You can imagine my surprise when I found the fridge half full with them," said Yuna.

Simon turned and peeked over the arm of the sofa to see her leaning over the counter, holding up one of the MRE packets.

"Well yeah. It's our food. No cooking necessary other than a microwave occasionally," answered Simon, tossing the bar back which Yuna caught.

"You may be excused since it was exam week but from now on you've got to eat properly. That's how my dad got sick!" she said while opening the fridge again and then the pantry.

Simon stood and went over to boot up his computer which was back in its proper place on a desk.

Yuna shut the pantry door in confusion, saying, "Alright. So you haven't got anything remotely edible in this dorm. I guess I can't make you anything tonight."

Simon looked up sharply. "I thought you're done here for tonight. We hung out and cleaned the place up. Haven't you got your own dorm to go back to?"

Yuna crossed her arms and said, "Promise you'll stop eating those MREs?"

"I'll order takeaway if it'll make you feel any better," he replied, focusing back on the computer.

That earned him a look of scepticism from Yuna as she wrote a reminder on a piece of paper and pinned it to the fridge. Meanwhile Simon was making the latest posts on the Ghost webpage. A lot of the new fan demographic was local, having migrated from another website. Curiously enough the same link appeared regularly in their comment posts. Deciding it couldn't hurt to see what it was, Simon opened it up. Onto the screen popped the homepage to Chiu's website. Exactly the last thing he wanted to see. Unfortunately the embedded video on the front began to play and Simon had forgotten that the speakers were plugged in and turned to maximum volume. Immediately he hit Alt-F4. The browser froze and so did the video which featured Chiu in a particularly compromising position. A shadow fell across the screen as Simon rapidly attempted to close the page. Failing that he resorted to Alt-Tab but to no avail.

"Oh… I didn't think you'd be so bold as to do something like that here?" said Yuna softly; her eyes glinted in the monitor screen after Simon hurriedly turned it off.

Watching the reflection of the darkened screen, Simon was frozen in place as he saw Yuna unwrap the muesli bar in her hand. With a crack, she peeled away one corned halfway down so it formed a tapered down to a sharpened edge.

"Hey!"

Simon and the swivel chair on which he was perched, toppled sideways as he leaned away from her.

The door to the dorm unlocked at that moment.

"Negi-bozu! Let go! This is where you're staying for tonight!" shouted Asuna, entering and kicking Negi away as he clung to her legs. "You're just acting your age for tonight aren't you?"

Next entered Gary, bearing Negi's overnight bag and Yue with Chamo on her shoulder.

"But I don't want to! I'm-"

Everyone stopped when they saw Yuna standing over Simon, brandishing the sharpened fruit and nuts bar.

Asuna looked from her to him before asking, "Did he try to take advantage of you?"

Both Simon and Yuna shouted, "It isn't what you think!"

"I didn't take advantage of anyone!"

"I wasn't going to kill him!"

Yue spoke up, "Crimes of passion have sometimes been categorised under temporary insanity as a defence."

Negi decided it was time to regain control of the situation.

"Ok Akashi-san. I'm sure you weren't really trying to hurt him and I'm sure he wouldn't touch you inappropriately so put down the… fruit bar please," he ordered calmly in his best schoolteacher voice he'd been trying to emulate from Takamichi. "Would either of you like to tell us what happened?"

Realising that she'd probably overstayed her welcome, Yuna complied, leaving the bar on the counter before turning and saying to Simon, "Nothing happened. Sorry about that Simon. We should hang out again. Don't forget. Start eating properly from tonight."

Once she was gone everyone turned to Simon for an explanation. Asuna was less understanding than the rest remaining unconvinced that Yuna would try attacking Simon for something as trivial as looking at Chiu's website. It'd taken an explanation from Yue about the concepts of crime of passion, intent and diminished capacity before Asuna gave up.

"By the way Negi-bozu will be staying here in your dorm for tonight, thanks" she said, remembering why she was here.

As she got up off the sofa Negi made another appeal by attempting to latch himself onto her. Asuna was too fast however, vaulting over the table and making a break for the front door.

"I must be going too. Nodoka and Haruna-san must be wondering where I'd gone," said Yue, following her to the front door.

She had a feeling the former would be jealous if she found out she'd spent that time with Negi, even if it was in the company of others.

The door slammed shut, leaving Negi alone with the two boys. The young, distressed teacher remained on his knees, staring at the door with his eyes tearing up. Admittedly he'd never made that many male friends with the exception of Kotaro and Takamichi over his brief existence. Nekane had raised him from an early age and he'd also known Anya Cocolova as his closest friend then. Ever since arriving at Mahora he'd grown accustomed in a way to the way the girls treated him. Tonight however would be something new altogether.

"Bravo Zulu mate. Looks like you've gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle Simon," congratulated Gary, clapping his hands slowly.

"What do you mean?" asked Simon.

"Oh… those kind of relationships which in tragedy. Husband or boyfriend attacked or murdered because of some extremely envious girlfriend for noticing another female in their peripheral," taunted Gary with a crooked grin.

"This coming from a guy who'd just been dumped."

Negi was only half paying attention. He looked at the clock and saw it was about time for dinner. With a sign he went over to the phone and dialled Chao Bao Zi. While he was placed on hold he saw a scuffle between the boys out the corner of his eye.

"That's it. Dead arm for you mate!" said Simon with an evil toothy grin as he pinned Gary to the sofa.

"Hey get off me! I should have taken Joe's warnings seriously!" snarled Gary, trying to twist away.

Negi watched with an open mouth as Satsuki answered the phone.

"Hello, this is Yotsuba may I take your order?"

He dropped the phone when he saw Simon pound away at Gary's upper arm continuously with a closed fist.

* * *

"Hey where have you been all this time? We've been looking all over for you!" said Ku Fei after almost bumping into Joseph in the corridor.

Fortunately the Student Council's decision to install mirrors in hallway intersections has dramatically reduced instances of collisions. On the other hand it made it easier for people to avoid those they didn't want to talk to.

"Uhh, independent science experiment… something for the upcoming Summer Festival…" lied Joseph.

He looked up at the mirror and saw Chizuru, Natsumi and Kotaro approaching.

Pointing at it, he joked, "I don't believe I've seen him before. Is he Murakami-san's boyfriend?"

Ku Fei chuckled and replied, "Don't let either of them hear you say that. No he's her little brother. Inug- I mean Murakami Kotaro. They stay in the same dorm."

Joseph could tell there was something the martial arts expert wasn't telling him but he decided not to persist.

"Hello there Joseph-san. It's too bad you couldn't join in the festivities today. I cannot describe how many hearts were broken from the other classes when they heard that all of you had disappeared," said Chizuru, stopping in front of Ku Fei and Joseph with her friend and the hybrid wolf hanyo.

"Well sorry about that," replied Joseph, looking a feeling guilty. "Just had other plans. Still trying to get settled in. I was never really close with most of the people from my previous school."

"You'll have plenty of time," said Ku Fei, patting on the back. "With these holidays you'll come to know 3-A as well as your last class from America."

Natsumi thought for a moment that Joseph's eyes were going to pop out of their sockets when Ku Fei's open palm made contact with his back.

"So that's another one of the new kids for their mysterious specialist training huh?" whispered Kotaro to her.

"It's rude to whisper about others, especially when you're right in front of them," Natsumi hissed back.

Joseph took notice of the pair.

"And you are Murakami Kotaro am I correct?" he greeted.

Natsumi and Kotaro looked at him in disbelief for a moment before the former replied abruptly, "Yeah that's right. I'm Natsumi-neesan's little brother…"

His 'older sister' confirmed it with a series of quick nods. Joseph looked over to Ku Fei whose smile looked a little wooden.

"They certainly are. I can vouch for it…" added Chizuru.

There was something in her tone and eyes which instinctively made Joseph comply. Somehow he felt that if she told him 2 + 2 = 5 in that same manner, he'd believe it.

"Alright, whatever you say. In any case I'm returning to my dorm. Maybe on the weekend," he offered.

* * *

"Bet you never had dinner with this many blokes before," said Simon.

The Negi sat between Simon and Gary, unable to eat out of nervousness.

"Are you sure you don't want to rearrange the seats?" asked Joseph.

From where he was, Negi was dwarfed by the other two considerably taller boys.

"No no… I'm okay," their teacher replied.

"You sure?" enquired Gary, taking a sip from a glass.

"No it's alright."

"Fine. Tell us if you need anything."

* * *

"How do you reckon Negi-kun is doing over there?" asked Konoka, sitting at the table with Asuna and Setsuna.

"He'll be fine. I think that some male company will do him some good," she replied.

Setsuna thought for a bit before saying, "I thought you'd be worried that they'd be a bad influence on him. I mean we've only heard of minimal perverted behaviour from the new guys-"

Asuna interrupted, "Oh don't over-think it Setsuna-san."

The swordswoman leaned over to Konoka and whispered cynically, "I get the idea she just wants Negi-sensei out of the way for tonight."

Konoka was already missing the boy when she replied, "Poor Negi. He must miss us so much."

Just then Asuna threw up her arms and exclaimed, "Yes! With him out of the way I am free! For tonight I don't need to worry about Negi-bozu perving on me, intentional or not! Hell if I want I can just walk around in my panties."

"You see…" said Setsuna quietly, looking pointedly at her charge.

At that moment Asuna heard a quiet snickering from somewhere in the room. Two small pair of eyes gleamed back at her from behind the small ventilation grille.

"Setsuna-san! Ventilation shaft! 4 o'clock high!" she barked.

The sword wielding girl was out of her seat and unsheathing her sword in an instant. Her arm blurred into action as she sliced cleanly through the grille. The instant it was compromised Asuna leapt onto the table and launched herself at the vent without disturbing any of the contents on the surface. Her arm plunged in up to her shoulder as she snatched the small wriggling interloper as it tried to escape inside.

"Looks like it isn't just Negi-bozu who's going to get exiled eh? Am I right pervert ermine?"

While Asuna evicted Chamo to join Negi, Setsuna duct taped the grilled into place before calling for repair and maintenance services to come tomorrow. They'd be gone for training with Evangeline for most of the day anyway.

"I cannot believe that Negi-bozu actually thought I was going to take him back," grumbled Asuna, stomping back in. "Truth be told I was half won over by his puppy dog eyes but I stayed strong."

"A minor test of will I suppose," remarked Setsuna with a shrug.

"Hey! Since Negi-kun isn't present I reckon now's the chance to try these on?" announced Konoka, bounding over with a pair of very large plastic bags in each hand.

"What are those supposed to be Konoka-ojousama?" asked her bodyguard cautiously.

"Some leftover costumes which didn't make the cut to the school festival. Let's all give these a shot!"

"Maybe it wasn't such a great idea getting rid him," muttered Asuna.

* * *

When Gary awoke that night he found that he couldn't breathe very well at all. He opened his eyes and saw the ceiling which was a deep blue in the dark. Snoring nearby were Simon and Joseph on the top and bottom bunks respectively. There was an awfully oppressive weight pressing on his chest and squeezing him. He tried moving his arms but found he couldn't.

"_Shit shit shit shit! This had better not be what I think it is!_"

He tried to make a noise, to wake up his roommates but found he couldn't make a sound.

"_F*ck f*ck f*ck f*ck! I knew it! Sleep f*cking paralysis!_"

It was then he felt a presence in the room. Very close in fact. Close enough to hear breathing. Paradoxically a very familiar feeling yet never experienced of helplessness and fear overcame the boy as he lay there.

Suddenly the weight shifted and the pressure on his torso slackened. It was just enough for him to let out a squeak.

"What?"

Gary suddenly found he could move a little. Looking down he squinted, trying to see if there really was something causing the weight. It was Negi.

A little while later a very annoyed Simon and Joseph were both up. Negi for some reason stayed asleep while Gary hissed at the others to get their attention.

"Can you guys get him off me?" he asked, ignoring the snickers of his roommates.

"Yeah sure."

Joseph reached over but was stopped by Simon.

"Hold on a sec. I got a better idea. Stay exactly where you are Gary. We'll be back. Come on Joseph, I need you to come with me for this."

"Hey! Where are you guys going?" Gary demanded to know, watching as Simon and Joseph went to the front door.

"We're going to do something young Negi here will never forget," Simon whispered back, "Oh and if you wake him or that ermine before we're done I'm going to dead arm you so badly your children's children will never have feeling in their upper arms for the rest of their lives."

* * *

"What is this you're showing me?" asked de Kere, sitting in the passenger seat of the darkened car.

Kichirou Katsurou, his contact from the Kanto organisation who was driving replied, "This is where they're keeping it."

"The Hina blade?"

De Kere's scepticism was evident on his tongue as he looked back through the window at the darkened building across the road.

"It's a Shinmei-ryu dojo. Only a few go there but the residents are very well practised in their art. They'll die before they allow the uninitiated to even glimpse the weapon," replied Katsurou.

De Kere nodded slightly, studying the building and its surroundings carefully while he twirled a PDA stylus around his fingers.

"Can we get a hold of the architect's plans or anything like that?" he asked, looking at his contact.

"I highly doubt it. It's likely they designed and built in on their own. They're highly secretive as you can imagine," said Katsurou after a moment of consideration.

"Fine, I'll work out a way myself. Thanks for your assistance so far," said de Kere, "Alright we've waited here long enough. Let's go."

The mole nodded and started the engine before reversing and driving it back down the road through the forest away from the hidden dojo.

As he drove, Katsurou carelessly asked, "So what are you going to do?"

De Kere stopped twiddling about with the stylus before pocketing it.

"They're obviously trained to take on mages in direct combat which is fine with me. If what you say is right I'll have that sword in less than forty eight hours. Oh and before I forget, here's your payment."

As he reached into his jacket, Katsurou stiffened, thinking that the Belgian was reaching for a weapon. Instead he had a small envelope in his hand which he ripped open. A single gold Kruggerrand coin was deposited into the car's ashtray.

"Let me out here. I'll make my own way back."

* * *

That morning Negi woke up in Gary's bed. His eyes still shut, he realised he was holding onto someone else.

"Oneechan. What time is it now?" he muttered, nuzzling his face into the cold, hard plastic of the crash test dummy Simon and Joseph had stolen from the Vehicular Safety Commission the night before.

He opened his eyes and looked into the eyes of the horribly painted face on the dummy.

"WWAAHHHHH!"

* * *

"_Asuna Vesperina Theotanasia Enteofushia. A rather long name isn't it?" said Nagi, bending down so he could look at her eye to eye. _

Asuna awoke with a gasp.

"I remember now!"

She leapt out of bed, not bothering to change out of her pyjamas.

"Konoka! Where are you?"

She couldn't find her roommate anywhere.

"Negi-bozu? Pervert ermine?" she glanced about before looking under the sofa.

"Oh that's right. I exiled them. Dammit, they're never here when I need them the most," she complained, getting changed as quickly as she could.

As soon as she entered the corridor she heard a clamour of angry and worried voices in the main lounge of the dorm. Curious, that was where she went first.

"I can't believe it. You three were that mean to Negi-kun!" complained Maki, trying to hug a traumatised Negi like a teddy bear. "Don't worry, next time you can go to my room if Asuna-san kicks you out."

Quickly Ayaka prised Negi from her classmate's grip and announced, "That is simply unacceptable. Negi-sensei is more than welcome to stay with me if that monkey Asuna evicts you again." She pointed at the three boys who stood at the centre of the ring. "I should prosecute the three of you for attempting to cause a psychological injury to our beloved teacher."

Joseph looked the guiltiest out of the three, followed by Gary. Simon however appeared unapologetic, having taken the time to groom himself properly before stepping out of the dorm to confront the angry girls of 3-A. Negi's scream of terror had alerted all but the deepest of sleepers in the dorm. Most of them rushed out in their pyjamas at the noise and had spent a good half our chastising the boys for the prank. Even Chamo had his hair on end as he glared at the them from atop Kaede's shoulder.

"Oh what's going on?" asked Asuna, coming down the stairs and looking around in surprise at her classmates surrounding the boys.

"Well you see, Gary, Simon and Joseph here played the meanest of pranks on Negi-sensei!" cried Fuka.

"They knew of how Negi's got that cute habit of snuggling up to you when he sleeps. But instead they put a scary dummy in place. Negi was scared out of his wits when he woke up!" Fumika went on.

For once the twins actually disapproved of a prank.

"To think they'd take advantage of Negi-sensei's need for a mother figure and used it to their own amusement," gasped Ayaka, almost fainting at the injustice.

Haruna emerged into the clearing, bearing the offending dummy.

"Here it is. Evidence exhibit A."

Asuna stared at the dummy's face. There was one blue and one green eye which were on the wrong sides. The head of a mop which was dipped in red paint served as hair and it was untidily braided. A red slasher smile was added against a white face.

Quivering with rage, she turned to the boys who stared apprehensively back as she slowly walked over and picked up the dummy. With a snap, she broke off an arm.

"You dare to make such an insulting caricature of me?" she growled, raising the arm.

A few other girls joined in, grabbing pieces of limb from the dismembered dummy before giving the boys a good working over, though it was on Negi's behalf. It'd only taken less than a minute before they were done. Fortunately Kaede, Ku Fei and Setsuna decided not to participate.

"Alright. We've wasted enough time. Let's go do something else," said Misa, leading her friends back to their dorm to get changed.

"Yeah."

There was a murmur of agreement from the others as they drifted away.

"Great! Now I'd forgotten what it was I needed to say," muttered Asuna, tossing the arm into a nearby bin along with the rest of the dummy.

The boys meanwhile got up and dusted themselves off.

"You guys good?" asked Gary.

"Stings a bit. But I'm ok," said Joseph.

Simon was about to open his mouth but found himself face to face with Yuna.

"Just what were you thinking Simon-kun?" she asked him, disappointment evident in her voice.

"Oh come on. It's some harmless fun," he replied, trying to sound as earnest as possible.

Yuna glanced at Negi who was still sitting in a foetal position on the couch and shook her head.

"You gotta know when to stop I guess. Well I guess I won't be inviting you to hang out today," she concluded, "We'll talk once you've thought about what you've done."

Turning on her heels she waved for her friends to follow. Akira stopped in front of Gary and was about to say something but thought better of it.

"Something wrong?" asked Gary.

The swimmer grimaced before saying, "Don't do it again. Please."

That left Joseph, Simon, Gary and Negi alone in the lounge together.

"Uhh, sorry I guess," apologised Joseph.

* * *

The meeting took place in an empty downtown bar in the city centre of New Ostia. The proprietor was paid off well to stay home for the rest of that week. There was only one man at the bar that afternoon.

Jack Rakan quietly sipped at his beer as he watched the TV in the corner. He didn't hear the footsteps approaching from behind until he was alerted by the creak of two bar stools.

"Rakan," greeted Price, dressed casually along with Soap.

They both had enchanted Kevlar under their shirts though.

"Captain Price and MacTavish huh? You're a little late."

Jack turned around in his stool to see the two Task Force leaders sitting opposite him.

"Let's dispense with the pleasantries. You know how dangerous it is for you to be seen with us," warned Soap, "Even if you are invulnerable Thousand Blades."

The former gladiator and Ala Ruba member chuckled before saying, "Oh don't you sweat it. I organised an autograph session down the road this evenine. The fans have been queuing up since this morning so it'd hardly be a concern if I was spotted here."

Price rolled his eyes before saying, "You have the info we need?"

Rakan seemed a little disappointed, "Oh, not joining me for a drink huh?"

"Allow me to remind you that Shadow Company will be here any minute," Price sighed, tapping his M1911 pistol in its thigh holster.

"Alright here."

Rakan brought out a folded map and pointed to several marked points.

"They've got a hardened uplink centre here. If you can reach it and clone its node you'll be able to listen in to their channels during the upcoming festivities." Rakan smiled before continuing, "Of course you'll only be able to do so for the duration of the festival."

Price slid the map over before glancing at it and passing it to Soap.

"Ok. We've got less than a minute," he said, slipping it into his pocket.

There was the sound of a vehicle pulling over outside before the double doors to the bar thudded.

"This is a routine inspection by Action Directe as per the contract agreed upon by Megalosembria and the Empire to ensure the security of New Ostia for the upcoming celebrations," a loudspeaker announced.

A helicopter could be heard hovering overhead as well.

"I guess the back alleys are out of the question," commented Price, looking up at the ceiling and recognising the noise as that of a Eurocopter Panther.

Suddenly several holes were blown in the ceiling as a pair of Shadow Company commandos fast roped in. No sooner had they touched the ground and leapt to the side than another pair was halfway down.

Price and Soap had earned themselves the reputation of having the quickest draws in Magicus Mundus during their exile. In a second the first pair of commandos was down with a double tap to the face each.

As soon as the second pair had hit the ground, Rakan vaulted over the bar and slammed a fist through the solar plexus of one the commandos. He was sent straight through the translucent windows at the front. The other had an underslung shotgun attached to his HK416 rifle. A concentrated spread of flame enchanted pellets blasted into Rakan's exposed side. The gigantic man didn't even feel it. Instead he whipped around, bringing his elbow about and smashing the trooper in the face, his neck broke and the head flopped backwards to an unnatural extent.

"Don't get in the way when we're shooting," growled Price, his gun still up.

"Boo hoo. Don't get your knickers in a twist. Keep shooting, you can't kill me with those alone," boasted Rakan.

Soap sighed and said, "We'd better get out. There'll be more coming."

Rakan pointed to a trap door behind the bar, saying, "Through there. Their helicopter won't be able to spot you. I'll hold them here."

Price looked at him strangely as he helped Soap prise open the door.

"I thought you didn't want to get into a confrontation with these guys."

Rakan shrugged, saying, 'They're not really living actually so I won't lose any sleep by eliminating witnesses."

Soap and Price looked at each other before the former said, "Fine. Good luck then."

Rakan waved back. "You too. Give them hell."

The two Task Force leaders had disappeared as soon as the front door exploded open. Rakan didn't even blink as the shockwave washed over him. In streamed a dozen Shadow commandos. They had magic riot shields and stun rods. They charged first while troopers outside fired gas and stun grenades through the windows and others from the helicopter dropped more through the holes in the roof. Anyone else would have been killed outright by the grenades themselves but not Rakan. More commandos converged from behind, coming in through the back door. Heedless of the gas and the explosions thanks to their enhancements they all charged at once. The others which followed in their wake carried USAS-12 auto-shotguns. All to no avail as Rakan, with a mocking grin brought up his fists.

* * *

**Do you think you can handle the awesomeness of Captain Price, Soap and Rakan in the same room? **

**Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis? It is terrifying isn't it? Feels like someone is approaching very close and you're helplessly lying there at their mercy. **

**I know I've been very mean to Negi as well but I wonder why no one's come up with a prank like this yet? **


	26. First Strike

"So why are we going to this Evangeline's place?" asked Joseph curiously as he, his roommates and Negi strode along the path which took them through the golfing green.

"Haven't you forgotten? We're going to get our training at last," Simon answered for him as they approached the lodge.

"Doesn't seem like much. How are we supposed to train in there?" Gary wondered aloud, looking around. "Maybe we're going into that forest."

"Do you know what's happening?" Joseph asked Negi who'd calmed down considerably since the morning scare.

"Well you'll have to see for yourself. You won't believe me if I told you," he answered, knocking on the door.

As they waited, they could hear several voices conversing inside before the door swung open and Chachamaru then beckoned them inside.

To the boys' collective surprise, except Negi, there sat Bishop and Evangeline in the lounge.

"Good morning. Simon Reilly, Gary Sanderson and Joseph Allen," greeted the vampire in English, her tone drawn out mockingly to their irritation. "I believe we should all talk in our native tongues for now, don't you agree Miss Bishop? After all, we don't want to be overheard and Chachamaru here can be trusted."

Bishop frowned at being addressed in such a way by Evangeline. The vampiress looked like prepubescent child yet she was really more than 700 years old while Bishop looked older yet was actually far younger. That and the fact that Evangeline frequently demanded the respect her age warranted; a little difficult for the ex-Ranger and Rainbow instructor.

As the boys sat down, Bishop said, "You boys know that you're here to commence Special Forces training. You may have worked out that I'm going to be your instructor, given my previous profession."

"Yeah… We kind of realised that…" said Gary uncertainly.

The last week or so had almost made them forget why they had transferred to Mahora. Being in a school full of doting, overexcited girls, taught by a kid teacher and exams had driven all that out of their minds.

"These holidays, we will be devoting days of training into you. Turning civilians into soldiers takes a lot of time and effort as you may well know," Bishop went on, "But you can be assured that quitting isn't an option."

She continued when she saw the stricken faces on the boys, "Well we can of course balance things out for you. You'll still be able to enjoy the holidays and the attention of your new classmates."

Bishop couldn't help but smile very slightly at this. "_Every adolescent male's dream._"

Evangeline, who was still holding that golf ball in her hand spoke up, "We have ways of ensuring that we can squeeze every minute out of you. I think it's about time we show you how."

At that moment Negi's phone buzzed. After he skimmed over the text he was sent he said, "I'm sorry Evangeline but Asuna said she'll be running a little late."

Evangeline replied, "Oh… Then let her know to meet up here as quickly as possible." She turned to Bishop and said, "I don't need to show you how to access the resort again do I?"

"No." Bishop stood and beckoned to the boys to follow.

"We'll catch up with you later," said Negi from the sofa.

"Hold on a sec!" interrupted Simon, getting up but refusing to follow. "Just how are you going to do all this? We won't have time to do this all over the holidays so just what are you planning?"

"Sounds like a supersoldier project to me," quipped Gary.

Evangeline sighed in response and said, "Then you've been playing too many sci-fi first person shooters. Just go to the basement. Chachamaru will you escort them there please?"

A loudly protesting Simon and Gary were then dragged down the basement stairs by the iron grip of Evangeline's robot maid. Just as Bishop and a very nervous looking Joseph followed, Negi and the vampiress were alone.

"So… Mr Springfield." commented Evangeline lightly, stirring her tea and continuing to converse in English. "I'm sorry. Do I make you feel old, calling you like that? I imagine you have your doubts as well?"

Taken aback, Negi replied, "Uhh. No not really. I think they can pull it off."

He didn't sound very confident about it.

"Of course… You've always placed a great deal of irrational faith in your friends. What if I told you they will succeed?" said the vampire before taking a sip.

"Then…" Negi struggled for an answer. "I'm afraid I haven't a clue why you'd say that. I'll certainly be very happy for them if it works out."

"_He doesn't know the truth then._" Evangeline closed her eyes and said, "You know how I said you should try it too? What if I told you that you'd fail?"

There was silence before Negi replied slowly, "Why would you say that? I'm not afraid of trying."

"You evidently don't have a clue what they're about to do. My decision was admittedly rash. I'd been squandering my time at this school for so long that I have forgotten what it's like to take the life of a human being." Evangeline continued, "Despite all you've endured thus far you won't last half a day."

Negi, sounding a little shaken, retorted, "And why are you saying this? How is it that I can't do what they can?"

"Why don't you talk to them later? By the time they exit the training resort this evening they would have had a week's practice I'd imagine."

There was a pounding of fists on the door.

"You can come in!" Evangeline called out.

Asuna ran up to Evangeline's lodge, followed by the Library Trio, Chamo, Konoka, Setsuna, Ku Fei and Kaede. They all quickly crowed into the lounge, much to their reluctant host's displeasure.

"Here," said Asuna tersely, thrusting a folder she'd received earlier from Ayaka into Negi's hands.

"What is this?" he asked, flipping it open and reading the documents inside.

"An application to form a new club," said the red haired girl, "I got it from Iincho just then."

"Okay…" Negi leafed over the rest of the pages and looked up. "So what kind of club will it be? I mean you need at lest five members to start and I can see you've already fulfilled that criterion-"

"Negi, you said that there's a possibility that you won't be able to return once you enter the Magic world right? Asuna interrupted, standing hands akimbo.

"Oh. Is that so?" added Chamo. "Well to begin. It's difficult enough even trying to get into there. You'll either have to endure their long and stringent application process or know some back doors like a smuggler or terrorist to get in."

"Is that why? Well that isn't good enough," said Asuna, raising her voice, "You'll have to do better than that. Promise us you will return!"

While everyone reeled back at her determination, Asuna went on, "Plus it's already been decided. I'm volunteering to assist you on this journey of yours to find your dad. Iincho is helping too in her own way, although she doesn't know. That is why this club is being formed for the purpose of finding your dad and getting back safely. As of today you're the new advisor and we're recruiting."

Everyone stared before Nodoka spoke up, "So that's why you told us all to come here."

Asuna nodded before asking, "Any questions?"

Evangeline held up her hand, the one with the golf ball. "Yeah. One. Have you got a name?"

"Umm…" Asuna nibbled at her knuckle for a bit before saying, "Okay. The Negima club for now."

"That sounds retarded. I'd reject that if I you boya."

"Oh come on Eva-chan! We're looking for Nagi-san. We all know how much he means to you. You don't even need to lift a finger to help us once we go over."

Evangeline for a moment looked ready to hurl the golf ball between Asuna's eyes before she said slowly, "Ok… Since you're that serious about it. I've nothing to lose and I won't have to endure you lot once you bugger off to the Magical world. I suppose it's a win-win situation. In the event you do return. I want all the information you have on Nagi-san and you've got to change that club name as well."

Delighted Asuna said, "Yes. Eva-chan's on board! By the way, honorary advisor is your title in the club. And before I forget could I ask you for a favour?"

Evangeline caught on immediately. "Oh. So you want to use my training resort again? Well you may use it but you'll be sharing with a few others as well and it'll look different depending where you go."

"Yes! Thank you Eva-chan!" exclaimed Asuna, grabbing a pen and holding out the form. "Okay everyone. Just add your name and details here!"

* * *

"This is too much!" complained Simon, hefting his bergen to a more comfortable position on his back.

Behind him were his roommates, dressed the same as he was in fatigues with a helmet, full body armour and a bergen full of bricks. They'd been trudging for a couple of hours through the jungle around Evangeline's training resort. Unfortunately the humidity made the trek even worse.

"Quieten down. There's still miles to go before I'm done with you lot," said Bishop who was dressed more comfortably in shorts and a T-shirt.

The boys had their own two litre bottles which they'd wisely decided to conserve for the journey. Using her jet thrusters, Chachamaru orbited overhead, outfitted with an emergency medical module just in case.

"Another splinter," complained Joseph after letting go of another branch. "Should have worn gloves perhaps."

"Luckily you didn't." said Gary.

The cloth on his cast was soaked with perspiration which couldn't evaporate due to the humidity. Even worse it irritated the healing stitched wound below, making it feel like there was a horrible rash underneath.

A light shone in the distance behind. Bishop raised her walkie talkie to her mouth and asked Chachamaru what that was.

"That's an indication that others have arrived. My sister, Chachazero will attend to them immediately," the robot answered.

* * *

"Oh this is pretty damn awesome!" exclaimed Haruna, stepping off the high suspended platform which was engraved with an enormous glowing warp circle.

There were other smaller ones arranged in a ring around the main one which were coloured differently. In front of her and everyone else who'd made the trip from Evangeline's lodge, there was a massive castle, white, shining and embedded into the side of a gigantic waterfall. All around there were jungles and other smaller fortresses.

"Welcome to Lebenschilt castle. These warp gates will transport you to other training areas. If you want to skip the scenic route and go to the castle right away, please step into the centre of the warp gate directly in front over here," greeted Chachazero as she hovered over the aforementioned gate. "Please enter one at a time and do not stick your limbs out or hold onto someone else in the odd chance you may be dismembered or fused together in some gruesome and highly amusing fashion," she concluded with a snicker.

"Okay! Let's see this one first!" Ku Fei dashed over to a bright white gate.

That one sent them to a freezing, snow capped mountainous environment. Chachamaru explained it was based off the Andes mountain range in South America. On close inspection, they could see several recently constructed buildings in the distance but they weren't able to make out any details before the biting cold made them step into another warp gate.

This one took them to a desert setting which Chachazero said was based on the Błędów Desert from Poland. Buildings were also visible in the distance but no one had the heart to investigate further.

"Who would have thought there'd be such a place smack in the middle of Europe," commented Setsuna. "Let's go before any of us gets a heat stroke."

Next they found themselves surrounded by high gray rocks with narrow paths jutting in between. Immediately a sense of unease gripped the girls and Negi.

"Master decided she wanted a piece of the Putangirua Pinnacle from the North Island of New Zealand after watching the last Lord of the Rings film. Don't tell her what I've revealed though," giggled Chachazero.

After that they warped into a disturbingly quiet forest. The same feeling as the previous locale came over the group. Correctly, they guessed this environment was derived from Aokigahara Forest, Japan. Last of all, the group warped directly into the castle foyer.

"This gate sends you into the surrounding jungle where tropical acclimatisation and training takes place," said Chachazero, pointing to a dark green gate.

"What's this one?" asked Yue, pointing to the last warp gate which was jet black.

Of the ones they'd seen, white was for the snowy Andean mountains, gold was for the Polish desert, gray for the New Zealand badlands, light green for the creepy Japanese forest and dark green for the tropical jungle outside. Red returned to the central station outside and blue was for the castle foyer.

"That's the urban combat arena. Reserved for Gary Sanderson, Joseph Allen and Simon Reilly. You can't use that one without the permission from either Master or Marion Bishop," replied Chachazero.

"Gary-kun? Joe-kun? Simon-kun? Bishop-sensei?"

The Library trio and Kaede looked confused.

"Oh… It's a long story," said Asuna, looking to Negi. "Uhh… how should we put this?"

There was a burst of light from the blue gate and out stepped Kotaro and Evangeline.

"Now that we're all present allow me to explain the situation. You're not the only ones training here," said Evangeline, raising her voice for everyone's attention.

* * *

"Finally!

The boys had reached their last rally point in a grass filled clearing near a stream. Bishop, unburdened by a brick filled bergen had beaten them by an hour and was sitting atop a tree, sipping Gatorade from her Camelbak pack mockingly.

"Okay put down your bags and refill your bottles," she instructed as Chachamaru settled down in front of them with a large barrel of Gatorade. "We're not done yet."

"How do you mean?" asked Joseph as he stepped forward and topped up his bottle from a tap near the base of the barrel.

"Well as bullshit as magic may seem we've only really been in here an hour from the real world perspective," explained Bishop. "Isn't that right Chachamaru?"

Since they were speaking in English the robot could translate quickly and reply in the same language.

"That's an affirmative. In this way we can compress almost twenty four hours worth into a third of the time outside," she replied.

"Great… I certainly hope you're right about this," muttered Simon. "I got plenty of things to do on my website."

Gary pulled off his helmet and poured the rest of the water from his bottle before slamming it back on his head.

"That felt so good. At least we can look forward to a good wash once we get back to the real world."

* * *

Evangeline finished explaining why Gary, Joseph, Simon and Bishop were there, much to the uninformed girls' amazement. After that she'd gone off to check on their progress, leaving Negi, the girls and Kotaro to their own devices. By the time they'd finished their summer homework and done a little training, the decision to appoint a club president had arisen. Asuna, being the one who'd organised the club was naturally considered the ideal candidate. The only problem was that Evangeline had returned and vetoed that decision with the threat of evicting the club from her resort. For her approval she required Asuna to land a hit on Negi within fifteen minutes in a duel. She failed. Negi was simply too fast despite Asuna's anti-magic skills and her kankaho ability.

"I guess you really are all talk Kagurazaka," commented Evangeline, looking dispassionately down upon the exhausted and beaten Asuna.

Just then there was a burst of light from the foyer. Negi, Evangeline, Kotaro and the girls were gathered about the outdoor lounge, overlooking the waterfall. Leading the way was Bishop who looked like she'd only worked up a good sweat after a workout, followed by the three boys and Chachamaru.

"You okay there?" asked Negi, seeing Joseph being supported by Simon and Gary whose fatigues were smeared with mud and thoroughly soaked.

"Take a flaming guess," snapped Gary, scaring his teacher.

His clothes were severely tattered unlike the others, setting down Joseph on a bench in front of the table where everyone else was sitting.

"Oh my gosh! What happened to you guys?" exclaimed the girls.

"He's not hurt but he was almost drowned during the canoeing exercise," said Chachamaru. "It'd be wise not to question them now. I sense a great deal of hostility to all living things emanating from them."

"It's okay… we've been informed of the situation… That magic exists and Negi's dad is missing…" said Simon listlessly. "That's what the vampire girl told us. Since we were in a good mood then we made up our mind and we're in."

After that his head hit the table and he promptly went to sleep.

"Geez, what the hell did you put them through?" asked Chamo, looking to Bishop. "I heard you were crazy with that assault course at school but what the hell's with them?"

"We're not halfway done," answered Bishop, eliciting groans from Joseph and Gary. "We'll get to the fun stuff in a week's time. In a month they'll know how the most efficient way of blowing up a building and how to stab someone with their own broken bones."

"_See what I mean?_" Evangeline communicated silently to Negi when their eyes met.

"Uh…Perhaps it's best if we send them home now. Give them a break tomorrow. I get a feeling they're going to have a much tougher time of it later on," he suggested.

"Yeah!" the girls and Kotaro unanimously agreed except for Evangeline and Asuna who was still groaning after her defeat.

* * *

"Everyone's ready," reported the mercenary leader to de Kere who was inside the command van.

In the darkness, the rest of his team had taken up positions in the trees around the Shinmei-ryu dojo.

"We can't stay long or they'll be able to sense our presence."

"I got it," de Kere replied, rereading the operation plans.

A minute later he was striding up the steps into the main entrance. Some of the staff and trainees were leaving and others were arriving as the graveyard shift began. The man smiled, imagining the graveyard he was about to establish here tonight.

As he stepped over the threshold, everyone in the foyer turned around and stared suspiciously at him. As a foreigner, it was inconceivable that he could know of them. What's more he wasn't dressed like a tourist, more like he was on a business trip complete with a suitcase. What's more, the Shinmei-ryu members could detect something very wrong about him. They could detect a great deal of magical energy and ki swirling about him. Of course, they couldn't just attack him out of hand. Their most senior member, an elderly man with scars crisscrossing his face stepped forward.

"Can I help you sir?" he asked cautiously in English.

The others reached for their swords discreetly.

"You may. Is this where the fabled Hina Blade is being kept?"

"And who wants to know?" the dojo leader asked, reaching for the hilt of his sword by his side.

Despite his poise, de Kere could tell how startled the man was, judging his momentary expression of shock and the trickle of perspiration forming on his wrist.

"Bastian de Kere."

With that he flung open his coat to reveal several wads of semtex taped to his shirt underneath. Just as he did that several swordsmen and women had already leapt into the air and sliced through the man several times. To no avail.

The semtex on de Kere and inside the suitcase went off at the same time. Lining the suitcase were dozens of metal ball bearings, serving as shrapnel to scythe down any survivors of the primary blast which cleanly blew off the front of the dojo. As soon as the bombs went off, the mercenaries swung into action. A few remained outside to watch for escapees while the rest stormed in through the doors. The real de Kere exited the van and strode through the devastated remains of the foyer.

"Clear. No survivors," reported the mercenary leader. "We've found it."

In the inner sanctum, there was an incongruously modern vault. The room was lit by candles and there were a great deal of paper wards attached to the walls. Ignoring them, de Kere approached and tapped the door. He could sense the security enchantments on it and all walls. There wasn't any time to waste trying to disable them.

"Let's see if we can take this with us," he instructed to the leader and the others assembled around the room.

With a nod the leader and two other men tried lifting the vault but found they couldn't.

"Sorry. It must have an anchoring spell in place. We won't be able to take it with us."

De Kere nodded and signalled for everyone to stand back.

"_Echo Seventeen Delta Niner_," he gave his activation keyword and first callsign from the Belgian Paracommando Regiment.

With that he touched the top of the vault with his fingertips and before giving the appropriate spell words. With a hiss, the metal began smoking as he dug in with his acid enchanted hands and peeled away the rapidly disintegrating metal. Security enchantments mattered little when the enchanted item was chemically deconstructed and reconstructed into something harmless. De Kere reached inside and pulled out the sword which was still in its beautiful glossy black scabbard. He regarded it closely, ignoring the chills he was getting from the supposedly cursed Hina Blade. It fitted the dimensions specified by Tsukuyomi exactly.

"Container," he said tersely.

One of the mercs brought up a long attaché case which de Kere opened and deposited the sword into the padded interior.

* * *

The next morning was tough on Setsuna. Called up before sunrise by the Dean, she was summoned to an emergency meeting in the conference room. With just enough time to get dressed but not enough to get a bite, she rushed across the campus and up into the administrative building. To her surprise she found the Dean, Toku, Eishun, Takamichi, a few others she recognised and others she didn't and a young woman with long dark hair at the head of the table. They all looked the same, very tired and very worried.

"Please sit down Setsuna-san," said the Dean, gesturing to an empty seat and then the woman at the front. "This is Aoyama Motoko. She'll be chairing this meeting and heading up the emergency response as the head of the Shinmei-ryu school. I believe the two of you have met before."

Setsuna started and bowed her head in apology to the woman, saying, "I'm sorry not to have recognised you earlier. I was unpre-"

"That won't be necessary Sakurazaki-san. We were all caught off guard by what just occurred at midnight earlier," Motoko cut in, raising a hand before clearing her throat. "At midnight there was an attack against one of our dojos."

She waited a moment to allow it to sink in before continuing, "First, this wasn't just any ordinary establishment. It was top secret. Second, there were no survivors. Third, there nature of the attack is disturbing to say the least. Last, they were able to retrieve the cursed Hina Blade."

Motoko finished counting off her fingers before going on, "There are several things immediately evident. The assailant knows the Blade exists and where to find it. Traces of military grade high explosives were found at the scene."

She lifted up a forensic report folder and said, "This person knew when to strike. Just as the shifts were changing. That meant everyone was either leaving or entering via the lobby. An ideal time to inflict maximum… casualties." She almost choked on the last word.

"The fact that the high security vault was broken indicated he or she is well versed in magic," she concluded. "For now that is all we know."

There was a horrified silence in the room. Setsuna felt sick to the core. She remembered a demonstration of the power of the Hina Blade. It wasn't pleasant and she was glad that it'd been sealed away. A weapon far too dangerous to be wielded by one individual alone.

"Do we know how this person was able to… eliminate everyone in the dojo with explosives alone?" asked Takamichi, leaning forward and rubbing his eyes.

Motoko glanced at the forensic report and replied, "They've placed the location of the explosives to be roughly in the middle of the foyer at approximately floor level. The locations of the… remains indicate they were surrounding the explosives. There were also ball bearings found, leading us to conclude that there was intent to maximise casualties."

"Sickening. Do you think it was a mage alone who did this or a mage with an accomplice?" questioned Toku.

"It's entirely possible both are true," said Motoko, "But I don't believe I've heard of anyone with such a modus operandi for both cases."

Eishun, who was silently pondering what he'd heard suddenly gasped before stopping. The Dean looked at him strangely.

"Have you anything to add son-in-law?"

"Oh… no not really."

"So. Could there be anyone who's capable of such acts. What about the incident earlier this year at Kyoto?" suggested Toku.

Takamichi shook his head, "No. It seems uncharacteristic of any of those involved. This is straight murder and robbery we're dealing with at its core."

"What about Bastian de Kere?" said Eishun.

"What?"

There were exclamations of disbelief and shock at that name. Motoko and Toku looked nauseated at the prospect. Setsuna never heard the name before. The Dean leaned forward, gazing at his son-in-law intently.

"Pray tell. Why do you think so?"

Eishun gestured helplessly and replied, "Well. I don't know. He's been on the warpath against pretty much everyone since he set foot in Mundus Magicus. It's possible he's looking for another weapon to use or sell to the highest bidder."

Takamichi nodded and said, "It's worth going down that line of investigation. He was responsible for that radiological attack against the Ariadne Knights after all. At the same time however maybe we're rushing to a conclusion here."

Everyone sombrely gave it some consideration before Motoko said, "Whether or not de Kere was responsible, the perpetrators will find no forgiveness from the Shinmei-ryu. The Hina Blade is extremely dangerous as it is. Its ability to grant ruinous demonic power to its wielder makes it dangerous in the hands of terrorists like de Kere. He's dishonourable to say the least but it simply isn't his style. It may just be a blind alley."

"Perhaps he was stealing it on the behalf on another?" added Toku.

Setsuna quickly felt like she couldn't concentrate any longer. Last evening's training which was light compared to the boys had left her drained and the rude awakening didn't do her any favours.

"Oh. I see you're falling asleep again. You may be excused Sakurazaki-san. Please be discreet about this matter," said the Dean.

* * *

Negi, Chamo the girls and Kotaro found Setsuna dozing in the lounge of Eva's resort later that morning. Asuna was still stuck in the snow after accepting Eva's club presidential test.

"You're early aren't you?" said Negi, offering the drowsy girl a cup of strong tea.

"Thanks. I was called up for a crisis meeting," said Setsuna after thanking her teacher and taking a sip.

"So what was going on?" asked Evangeline, walking up them in a bathrobe.

Setsuna gave them a quick rundown of the situation. Except for Evangeline they all had reacted with varying degrees of disgust or shock at the nature of the attack.

"So who's this Bastian de Kere?" asked Negi, vaguely remembering a name like that after searching up a criminal database with Chamo for information on Evangeline.

"You don't know?" Chamo and Evangeline stared back at him in shock.

"Well I guess it's to be expected. You're still unfamiliar with the Magical world of course," said the latter.

Chamo quickly produced a computer and opened up the database while paraphrasing, "Bastian de Kere. Former Megalosembrian Secretary of Defence. Arrived from Belgium for [Redacted] What?"

There were masses of lines inked out on the page.

"It's been redacted? What?" exclaimed Evangeline. "My file isn't."

"Well… Okay." Chamo continued, "Affiliations with [Redacted]. During his tenure as Megalosembrian SecDef… Conspiracy to commit genocide. Crimes against all sentient life. Levying war against the nations of Mundus Magicus. Charged with high treason against Megalosembria thanks to evidence provided by [Redacted]. Following that he was suspected of various acts of terrorism. Multiple bombings and assassinations.

"What's this?" said Yue, coming across an embedded video.

She clicked on it, bringing up an image of a man strapped to a chair in a brightly lit room. He looked like he'd been beaten and had elongated ears. There was another man in the image who matched the picture at the front. A long, broad blade of glass formed in the palm of his hand as he approached and grabbed the restrained man by the hair. He raised the glass knife and began sawing at the victim's brow.

"Turn it off!" shrieked Nodoka.

"My god! He scalped an investigative journalist on live broadcast just to make a point," exclaimed Chamo. "That's how he got the name the Barber of Belka. Named after the town where the act had occurred."

"And he's only second most wanted after me," commented Evangeline blandly, looking at Negi's expression of revulsion. "I can tell you he is the kind of person Simon, Joseph and Gary were trained to fight against."

Negi didn't hear the "were". He was only half listening as he stared into the bleak eyes of Bastian de Kere, also known as Vladimir Makarov, the Barber of Belka, the Shadow of Zakhaev, the First Horseman and the Thousand Eyed Fiend.

* * *

**I'm sure you recognise Motoko Aoyama from Love Hina. The Love Hina storyline take place before Negima and they're both written by Ken Akamatsu. **


	27. Commencement of Training

**Pushing ahead with things. I hope you can keep up.**

* * *

"So what was this sword that was stolen?" asked Negi.

Setsuna hesitated before launching into a concise explanation. The Hina Blade, also known as the Yoh-Katana Hinata was a weapon bound to the spirit of an ancient enemy of the Shinmei-ryu school. It can generate enormous power except that it will eventually destroy the soul of the wielder since it draws energy from it. Kyoto was almost destroyed as a result before the user was defeated and the sword was sealed. Since then it had disappeared but had surprisingly resurfaced recently as a forgotten heirloom of the Urashima family. Motoko Aoyama successfully sealed the weapon which had since been on permanent loan to the Shinmei-ryu. Setsuna also recalled the terrifying experience in which Tsuruko Aoyama, Motoko's older sister had given an inadvertent demonstration of the Hina Blade's destructive power.

After hearing Setsuna out Negi was silent before saying, "Listen. We know next to nothing about what's going on. For now we can only entrust the others to figure out what's going on."

"You're right," said Nodoka, "As frightening as this may be, we cannot be distracted now. I don't think the perpetrators will be stupid enough to attack this school directly. However the best we can do is to continue training. "

While Yue gave her a congratulatory pat on the back, there were murmurs of agreement amongst the girls while Evangeline was silent.

"Boya. I want you to go fetch the three stooges now. Bishop will be here any minute now and she's got to leave early around lunchtime."

"I thought they're getting a break today," said Negi, looking a bit puzzled. "We agreed yesterday didn't we?"

Evangeline rolled her eyes and said, "Yes a break. But we didn't say when it starts and when it ends. Hence their training starts today and ends at noon when Bishop goes."

As she started walking away to find some cold weather gear she said, "Don't dither. I need to go check on Kagurazaka before she freezes her tongue on a metal bar or something equally stupid."

* * *

_Come on! Just a few more klicks and you're there! _

_Why are you even here? They must have filed your form incorrectly. _

_Take five minutes to rest and we'll begin again. _

_Today will be nice! Double time! _

_Keep your helmet on! I don't care. You will keep your kit on for the rest of the course. _

_You're a joke. You don't have what it takes to be here. _

_Drop and give me twenty. Now! _

_You may sleep for one hour. One hour only. _

_If you fail now, you'll fail your entire unit. It'll be on your conscience if they all die because of you!_

* * *

They awoke to the pounding on the door.

"Flame," Simon groggily issued the challenge.

"Charcoal," Negi correctly gave the password.

"That countersign sucks," grumbled Joseph.

"Shuddup. Gary… can you get that?"

"Coming."

Gary drunkenly crawled out of his futon and felt his way to the door while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Fortunately the cleaning by Simon and Yuna the day before yesterday made the floor safe to traverse again.

"Yeah what is it?" he said opening the door. "Oh. Good morning Negi."

Negi was taken aback by the state of the older boy in front of him. His blonde hair, normally combed and presentable was all over the place and he wore a severely tousled shirt and pair of boxers. It was only nine in the morning.

"Uh. Morning. I'm sorry to say this but you've got to go to the resort today to resume training until lunchtime in this world I mean," said Negi, feeling a little guilty at the evidently poor state Gary was in.

"Does it have to be now?" asked Gary, hoping that the young mage was lying.

Negi nodded to Gary's dismay before he called back to his roommates to relay the message.

"Alright I'm up," said Joseph as he got out of the lower bunk and started getting dressed.

"Don't worry about breakfast. We'll handle it once we get over there," said Negi as he looked past Gary and saw Joseph head for the fridge.

The boy nodded before heading to the bathroom while Simon rolled and fell out of the top bunk.

"Simon!" cried Negi, pushing past Gary and rushing over to the heap of blankets which marked the spot where the boy had fallen.

"Oh I wouldn't be too concerned about him. He's done it before," said Gary lightly, leaning against the door frame.

Once Negi had gotten there, Simon suddenly rose up out of the blankets, his black hair covering his usually pale face which scaring the living daylights out of the boy. Joseph got a good chuckle out of it as he came out of the bathroom, as did Gary who'd forgotten the door was open.

"What are you doing Gary? Have you forgotten this is still a majority girls dorm?" said an outraged voice from the corridor.

Spinning around and looking right where the voice had come, he spotted Ayaka with Chizuru and Natsumi who all looked like they'd been hit by a ton of bricks. The last two were overing the eyes of the struggling Narutaki twins.

"Sorry."

He ducked away and slammed the door. It was a good half an hour before the boys left the dorm room.

While the boys got dressed and as they left the dorm, Negi gave a concise explanation of magic as well as some of his life history involving the disappearance of his father. To Negi's relief; instead of outright, sappy displays of sympathy, the trio appeared engaged and weren't afraid of asking questions though they were tactful and circumspect.

"It's all very interesting, not to mention tragic what you said. Do you know of any enemies your father had?" asked Simon as they all traversed the campus, heading for Evangeline's cabin.

Casting his mind back to his encounter with the strange pale haired mage in Kyoto, the attack by von Herrmann and the incident with Chao, he couldn't think of anyone.

"The most I can tell you is that there's someone behind the razing of…"

Negi faltered to say it but Gary interjected, "You don't need to say who you suspect was really behind it. That's in the past and the girls had already told you to move on. You don't need us to remind you it wasn't your fault."

"Yeah…" replied Negi quietly.

Joseph gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before changing the subjext, "The truth behind the festival was a little difficult for me to follow to be honest."

The others nodded in agreement.

"You know anyone who's got footage from that martial arts tournament?" asked Simon, "And that Mages vs Martians game too."

"Can't believe we missed that," said Gary regretfully.

* * *

"Imperium Graphicus Inferno Aniki!" shouted Haruna as she summoned the demonic giant from her artefact sketchbook.

Opposite her Ku Fei took up a combat stance.

"Hu Shin Chuen!"

Her ki powered attack struck the summoned being right in the belly, knocking it and Haruna over and winning the informal duel for Ku Fei.

"Don't scare us like that! Nodoka and I just lost our concentration just now!" complained Yue while her friend continued to cough once the dust had cleared.

"Wow! What the hell was that?"

The girls looked over to see Negi approaching with Simon, Gary and Joseph in tow.

"So that was the ki you told us about?" whispered Simon to Negi.

"Yep. Ku Fei's a natural."

"Hey! How are you all!" greeted Konoka cheerily while waving a practise wand.

Joseph immediately flinched but Negi said, "It's alright. Don't forget that incantations are needed for spells to work."

"Uhh, what's with the getup?" asked Simon, trying not to stare at the girls' attire.

Unlike Setsuna, Ku Fei and Kaede; Chachamaru, Konoka and the Library Trio all wore maid uniforms borrowed from Chachamaru's sister gynoids. Yue, Nodoka and Konoka were practising their incantations with training wands nearby.

"Oh. What do you reckon of these boys?" asked Haruna suggestively, doing a pirouette in her uniform.

"I'd rather not answer thanks," mumbled Joseph, edging around her to get to the table which was set out with some food along with Chamo who was typing away at his notebook.

"Morning… Chamo was it?" greeted Simon, grabbing up a slice of toast from the pile off the plate in the middle.

"Sup. Guys. Sorry. Busy right now. You might want to grab a bite and have a drink if you haven't already." He motioned towards several jugs of milk, juice, coffee and tea next to the toast. "Bishop just came through so she'll be back any minute now."

"Why are you ordering knickers online?" asked a bemused Gary as he munched on his toast.

"Hmm. I use them to line my nest. It's also a hobby of mine to collect them," answered the ermine, selecting the pay option for a pair which took his fancy.

Gary turned away, not just out of courtesy because Chamo was entering Negi's credit card details but because the ermine's hobby was weirding him out.

"You know. You guys may want to try your hand out a magic. Almost all of us can do it," pipped up Konoka as she joined the boys at the table.

"Almost," added Setsuna, hovering protectively behind her.

"If you're caught performing magic overtly the consequences are swift and severe," explained Negi, "It's almost happened to me."

"Yeah they'll turn send you to a prison where you'll be turned into an ermine. I suspect it's meant to save space and reduce costs. You know, ermines have simple needs, a little room for exercise, much less food than a human and we don't need clothes," added Chamo.

"Well, your needs are anything but simple considering how you've got a penchant for knickers," said Gary sardonically.

"I don't fancy being shanked by a toothpick in ermine prison," mused Joseph.

While they were chatting Bishop arrived and walked up to the table unnoticed.

"Good to see you boys are ready," she said, startling everyone.

"What! We didn't hear you coming!" exclaimed Negi, almost falling off his chair.

"It's not perfect but I suspect Nagase-san here is better at it than I am," said Bishop, nodding towards the ninja girl. "Anyways we've got little time to waste since I've got an errand later this afternoon."

It was then that Evangeline teleported in after checking on Asuna's test. After dusting off the snow and throwing off her fur coat to be caught by Chachamaru she approached the boys.

"Good morning. Zoolander, Hansel and… Joe," she greeted Simon, Gary and Joseph derisively.

"How come you didn't insult him properly?" asked Simon indignantly, pointing at Joseph.

"Because you broke the skylight in my lodge, he just annoys me because he's the third blonde in our class and Joe's a contraction of Joseph."

The vampire held up the golf ball Simon had accidently hit into Evangeline's home last Friday while Gary self-consciously ran a hand through his hair and Joseph muttered, "That didn't even make sense."

"You're lucky I've declined to snap freeze the coffee running down your throat. Bishop told me you're going to be whipped into shape whether or not you like it," Evangeline went on.

"Whipped huh?" commented Haruna and Chamo, the former adding, "This I've got to see."

"No you perverts! Get your minds out of the gutter," retorted Evangeline angrily. "You too!" She directed this at the boys who looked genuinely terrified."

Negi decided to intervene. "Ok ok, as their teacher I won't allow anything like that to happen. Evangeline-san do you have anything else to say?"

After clearing her throat, the vampire said, "I have nothing else to say. You?"

She turned to Bishop who said, "Well this is the situation we've got. Either you guys adjust well or you crash. In that instance we have no choice but to crash through. Let's get to work."

* * *

"Camera 15 is down. 9, go back and fix it will you?" said Charlie 13, staring at the blanked out monitor in the surveillance room.

"Aww shucks. I have to go back in again," complained Charlie 9 over the radio.

"I don't care and neither does the boss. Get it done," ordered Charlie 13, "Do you want me to patch through Supervisor?"

"Fine. I'm on my way."

Charlie 9 donned his electrician disguise again and left the van. As one of the few Japanese amongst de Kere's teams he could carry out some of the more sensitive tasks around the Mahora campus without arousing suspicion. Once he got to the concealed camera spike he realised something was wrong.

The first time he'd checked, several of its internal circuits were fried. Nothing unusual but extremely inconvenient since the replacement camera had to be synched back to the network from the surveillance centre in the apartment. The wireless signal must be encrypted and secure, even from detection. The second and last time he'd come, the camera had toppled from its spot. By far that was the most worrying sign as it was supposed to be secured by a strong adhesive padded tripod. Probable that an animal knocked it out of place. If human then it would have been reported in.

"_Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times, it's enemy action. As the great Ian Fleming used to say,_" thought Charlie 9, coming across the concealed spot where the camera was hidden, overlooking the western side of the World Tree Plaza.

This time however the camera was broken. A neat bullet hole perforated the supposedly bulletproof casing on the side.

"Enemy action," he cursed before immediately radioing back to Charlie 13.

Next he studied the hole and pulled out a few tools from his utility case. Making sure no one was looking; he took a photo of the broken camera from afar before taking a photo of the scene the camera was watching. Next he placed a straw into the bullet hole, making sure the wind didn't blow it off. Though it was imperfect he was able to get an approximate angle. He photographed the scene where the straw pointed before examining it through his binoculars. Immediately he could identify several locations where a sniper could have shot from. Noting them down with reference to the photo, Charlie 9 quickly took down the camera and hurried back to his van. A replacement could wait.

* * *

"Good! Stop! Safety and unload!" commanded Bishop loudly.

She, Simon, Joseph and Gary were lined up at the firing range in the urban combat dimension set up by Evangeline and Chachamaru. Obediently, the boys did so, safetying their USP pistols, ejecting the magazines and working the slider before placing them on the tray in front. Following Bishop, they each went over to the cluster of targets in front of each firing position. The human silhouette targets all had neat holes clustered about the centre of the chest and a few in the head.

"Okay. Centre of mass is what we're aiming for. We've achieved that along with some hits to the head. Since they're stationary they were comparatively easy to hit," said Bishop after motioning for the boys to remove their earplugs.

"So who did the best out of us all?" asked Simon.

Bishop frowned before saying, "Can't say straight away. I'll need to take these down and tabulate the results first. In any case you all caught on faster than expected. Much faster. In fact I might say you guys are naturals at it."

She could make out a hint of a smile on each of the boys faces at the compliment.

"However I do need to remind you that you'll need to be aware of the usage of force okay? The rules are different for the military and law enforcement. The last gig I was on was closer to law enforcement."

Seeing that the boys' attention was fully on her, she went on, "In law enforcement or self defence you shoot to stop the perp or suspect, not kill. Ideally you'd be aiming to hit the leg to immobilise or the weapon arm to disarm. It's very difficult to land a hit on the extremities so more often than not you'll be aiming for the centre of mass since that's easiest to hit and it's more likely to put them down, short of a bullet to the head."

Gary then asked, "Pretty tough decision for the cops isn't it?"

Bishop nodded soberly, "Yes that's right. That is why it's important that you have the maturity to understand what it is you've got in your hands. It's not all about awareness of safety, diligence of maintenance and ability; all of which you excel in. Now then in the military context they tell you to shoot to wound. Not too dissimilar to what I said earlier wasn't it? Now a wounded enemy soldier on the ground will draw more of his buddies who'll try to save him. Also it'll take up enemy resources to treat him and it may even sap their morale. Getting the enemy to transport him back to their hospitals and then treating him costs resources and may cause even further morale loss. Now that's thinking strategically in a tactical context. In practise it's different. Most of the time you'll want to ensure your enemy stays dead. A wounded soldier can still fire his weapon or throw his grenades or radio in fire support. That's becoming truer on an asymmetric battlefield where the enemy is less likely to be a uniformed combatant who doesn't have a proper hospital to go back to. Since they have less to lose, they're less likely to be casualty shy and more likely to try and take you with them."

There was silence before Joseph said, "That's really quite a dilemma isn't it. Consecutive life and death decisions by the second."

"I hope you understand. We'll practise with moving targets before things get more realistic. By the time I need to go you'll have graduated from handguns," concluded Bishop leading them over to picnic table nearby.

Instead of food, the able was set out with a blue tarpaulin sheet and an array of handguns, some disassembled. The USP was the favoured weapon of the boys which wasn't surprising considering its worldwide popularity.

Looking upon the M9 pistol, Joseph couldn't help but shudder. Even if it was the official weapon of the US military, there was something distinctly unsettling about it.

* * *

"_Where did you get that?" asked Alexi as Makarov pulled the slider on an unusual gray pistol before slitting it into his thigh holster. _

"_Prototype M92S-1 from Beretta. It's one of the pistols competing to be the standard for the US military," answered the terrorist woodenly without looking at him. _

_He zipped up his empty duffel bag and kicked it to the back of the cramped lift before hefting his CAR-15 carbine. Everyone else in the elevator was ready with their flak jackets, automatic weapons and grenades. Victor, Lev and Kiril impatiently watched the numbers changing in the LED display above the door, their hands trembling or stroking their guns while Makarov calmly tapped his foot against the floor in tune with the lift music. Finally they were only one floor away. The leader turned to face Alexi who stood at the very back of the group, tightly clutching an M240 general purpose machine gun and a CAR-15 with an M203 grenade launcher hanging at his side from a 3 point sling. _

"_Remember. No magic."_

* * *

The S&W Model 29 revolver on the table made Simon and Gary flinch.

"Do you want to try this?" asked Bishop, picking up the weapon and spinning the ammunition cylinder before flipping it out to the side. "

Even though she had it pointed at the ground as per gun safety rules, the two boys didn't feel any more comfortable around it. Gary's stomach lurched from the sickening sensation of something narrow and hard, sticking between his ribs. Meanwhile Simon loosened his collar, feeling uncomfortably hot around the neck.

"We'll pass."

* * *

"Ku Fei! I demand a rematch!" shouted Haruna.

"Oh? So soon?" chucked Ku Fei, leading her over to a clearing away from the rest of the girls, Negi and Kotaro. "Bring it on!"

"Here goes!" Haruna opened her sketchbook and raised her pen melodramatically. "I requisition… Stryker ICV, Honey Badger!"

Out of nowhere a laser pointer was in her hand as she shone it at Ku Fei's chest.

"What?" The Chinese girl looked puzzled but had her fists up in a defensive stance.

"Solid copy, engaging infantry," spoke a slightly garbled voice like it was being spoken over a radio.

From a portal which materialised in mid-air, out thundered an eight wheeled, 19 tonne armoured personnel carrier toting an M2 .50 calibre heavy machine gun.

"Use less-than-lethal shells," commanded Haruna before the M2 began firing.

With a scream of utter surprise and defeat, Ku Fei was blasted away from under the relentless barrage of orange red tracer rounds.

"Did you kill her?" shouted Nodoka, her hands covering her ears to block out the noise.

"Of course not. Those weren't real bullets," replied Haruna going over to check the impact where Ku Fei had landed.

"Looks like that's one each to Haruna and Ku Fei," remarked Yue to a slack-jawed Negi.

"Honey Badger-sama. You're one mean bitch," said Haruna lovingly to the Stryker, patting it one the side armour before dismissing it. "Now that's a sketch I'm going to keep."

"Wow, you're certainly thinking outside the box aren't you?" said Kazumi with Sayo hovering by her shoulder.

Just behind them Chachamaru was escorting in a struggling Chisame.

"What's that food for?" asked Kaede, eyeing the bags in Kazumi's hands.

"I thought you knew each time a club is formed they must have a party to celebrate its inception. Kinda like a housewarming party," the journalist answered. "Chachamaru here took the liberty of signing me up including Sayo and Chisame."

"I didn't say I wanted to be here," protested the hacker girl, shrugging off Chachamaru.

"Since she was loitering near the convenience store I decided out of good faith to bring her here," answered the robot, gesturing towards the table where the food was being set out.

"Isn't Kagurazaka-san going to join us?" asked Kazumi, sitting down.

"No actually she's still completing Evangeline's test. It'll be a while," said Negi, checking his watch and then saying, "It's almost about time now."

* * *

"I've got this voice that's constantly telling me to aim down my sights," muttered Joseph after Bishop left for her errand.

"My right index finger keeps twitching," groaned Gary.

"Gotta adjust those thigh holsters so they don't cut circulation to my legs," said Simon, limping over to the gathering.

"How was it?" asked Yue, beckoning them over to the table.

Once again the three of them looked just as weary as yesterday. They each slumped into a chair before listlessly picking up a plate.

"Difficult," answered Simon.

"Felt like I'd been going on for 24 hours without stopping," said Joseph.

"Well, almost," said Ku Fei, glancing at her watch while rubbing ointment on her bruises from her tangle with Honey Badger.

"Damn… We need that break now. I'm going as soon as I'm full," said Gary, looking to the others, "You lads with me?"

"I second that," replied Simon while Joseph nodded in agreement.

"Aww, we just got here and now you guys have to go," complained Kazumi, pouting slightly.

It was then that Joseph noticed a pile of embers a few metres away from the gathering. "What happened there?"

Nodoka, Yue, Ku Fei, Chisame and Chachamaru looked embarrassed while everyone else seemed disappointed with the exception of Kaede's neutral countenance.

"Comparative love charts of the girls in this class pertaining to Aniki. You know Ne-"

The ermine was abruptly silenced by the girls who were most offended by the charts and its implications. That involved stuffing his head and upper body into a glass.

"He means Negi-sensei," added Kazumi and Haruna, much to those girls' collective dismay.

After the awkward silenced had commenced, the boys nodded their understanding.

"I see," said Gary, slowly.

"Speaking of Negi. Where is he?" asked Simon, looking about.

"He's gone with Kotaro-kun, Set-chan and Eva-chan," answered Konoka, "I think they've gone to check on Asuna-san. Her test should almost be over."

"How's the test?" asked Joseph.

"Imagine they're just about freezing right now," she replied.

* * *

The boys along with Chamo left the party early before Negi, Kotaro, Asuna and Eva returned. Bishop had given them some homework, namely to work out how to calibrate and use the heartbeat sensor. Since Gary was already familiarised with it he promised to teach the others but since they were so worn out they decided to hit the baths first.

"The water certainly helps with the aches," said Joseph, cleaning off the grime from between his fingers.

Behind them there were several duffel bags containing their clothes and other apparel since they'd forgotten to bring their locker keys.

"I reckon. By the way. What are you doing here," Simon questioned Chamo who was floating in the water nearby.

"What? I enjoy my baths too," the ermine replied, puffing on his cigarette.

"From what I hear from Asuna, you don't just enjoy it for the heat do you?" remarked Gary, waving away the steam.

"You got a problem with that?"

"Not particularly. Just a little strange considering your species."

Chamo sighed and leaned against the side, saying, "I'm not exactly a pure ermine. I'm more comparable to a fairy or a similar supernatural creature."

"… Right…"

It was then that the alarm on Joseph's watch sounded. He glanced at it briefly before saying to the others, "ETA five minutes for the girls to arrive."

He could barely see Simon and Gary stand up through the steam as they joined him in getting out of the water and picking up their bags.

"Let's go before they see us. You going to be fine there Chamo?" asked Simon, looking down at the ermine who was still in the water."

"You go along without me. I'll be fine over here," the ermine called out.

"Whatever you say. Don't get caught now," said Gary.

They all took one step and froze. Female voices could be heard through the steam from the direction of the change rooms. From the sounds of it they were coming closer.

"Damn, I thought we had five minutes warning," cursed Simon.

"I thought I did. Sorry guys," apologised Joseph as he dropped his bag.

"Never mind. We need to get out of here without being seen lest we be branded perverts like that ermine," said Simon, looking around at the other boys. "Hey what are you doing Joe?"

Joseph was struggling into what looked like foliage covered ghillie suit and boots he'd retrieved from his bag.

"Since when did you carry that around?" asked Gary incredulously.

"I made it during Home Economics. I just matched the covering with those plants around the side."

"Alright. Meet up in the change rooms. At least one of us should get away. We'll work our own way out," said Simon hurriedly.

"Good luck."

Joseph then ran off towards the plants ringing the water and dived in amongst them before crawling towards the change rooms.

"Chamo. Lend us a hand here," said Simon, "I have a plan."

After explaining the situation and giving the ermine a thermal imager and a walkie talkie, Simon and Gary began their perilous journey back to the male change rooms as the girls closed in. With the single heartbeat sensor between them they hoped to slip through without being noticed while Chamo provided overwatch from the top of the waterslide.

"Chamo here. You forgot something," reported the ermine loudly over the walkie talkie.

"What? Keep it down," whispered Simon furiously.

"You forgot that the thermal scope cannot see through steam," said Chamo, "Look. I won't be much help to you if I can't see."

"Damn. Okay. Just stay put. Meet up with us at the change rooms. Don't lose that walkie talkie either," he answered before signing off.

"Problem?" queried Gary, crouching beside him and looking about nervously as the girls' voices closed in.

"Yeah. We lost Chamo."

* * *

Meanwhile Joseph was crawling very slowly through the bushes. The noise of splashing made him stop. Turning his camouflage painted face ever slightly, he glanced over at the giant bath.

"Oh shit," he cussed, turning away.

Half of 3-A were there, wearing only towels. Resisting the urge to look again, Joseph continued on crawling, making sure not to make any noise as he gently and slowly pushed leaves and branches out of his way.

* * *

"We should be ghosts in this steam which won't interfere with our heartbeat sensor," explained Gary, holding up the device and passing it to Simon. "You, Joe and I will show up as blue dots on the screen. Everyone else is white."

"Okay. Let's be careful now. From the looks of it, it only updates every few seconds. And a few seconds is all it takes for us to stumble into the girls," said Simon.

As quietly as they could they sneaked over to the rows of shower blocks only to stop when two contacts were registered.

"Hold," instructed Simon, holding up a fist. "Two contacts one o'clock."

They both crouched and waited for the screen to update. 12 o'clock, then 12 again, meaning the two girls had left and were out of range.

"Lets move."

The pair continued forward cautiously but Gary almost slipped in a puddle.

"What it?" whispered Simon angrily.

They both waited in silence for a couple of seconds but no one noticed or heard the sudden movement. Once they'd cleared the shower blocks there were several benches arranged around a collection of pot plants.

"Left or right?"

Most of the contacts were to their left in the main bath but there were a few ahead.

"Right."

Halfway there the sensor beeped again.

"Contact front. Turn around."

They did so at a crouch. There were light footsteps rapidly approaching. With bated breath the boys sneaked around the other side of the plants. Simon looked back to see who had passed but through the steam it was difficult to tell.

"Don't stop to perv. Keep going," urged Gary.

They'd almost made it but then.

"Oh shit. Contacts on our six. Wait. More in front. Closing fast," whispered a panicked Gary.

"Into the water. Quietly now."

As silently as possible, the two of them slid back into the bath. The splash didn't evade notice however.

"Is that you Misa-chan? I really need that conditioner," a voice sounding like Madoka came from their left.

"No I haven't found it yet," Misa called out from the far side.

"Then who's there?"

"_Hide! You've alerted one of the guards!" reported Captain MacTavish urgently. _

With a finger raised to his lips, Simon pointed ahead which was clear according to the sensor. With a nod, Gary followed him.

* * *

On the other side, Joseph lay very still as Makie and Satomi approached the edge of the water, clad in towels.

"_Please don't see me. Please don't see me. Don't stare at them. Don't stare at them." _

He shut his eyes and heard a pair of thunks. Opening them, he realised the girls had placed their personal washing kits right in front of him. What's more, Makie was sitting with her back to him, untying her hair. One of her elastic bands flicked him in the eye, forcing him to bite down on his knuckles. She was joined my more of the girls, sitting with their backs to the edge in front of the bushes where Joseph was hidden. Afraid to move in case of causing noise, Joseph sighed in frustration and fear and waited for them to leave.

* * *

"Dive now."

Gary and Simon submerged themselves and swam forward. Above them several of the girls jumped and splashed into the water on the other side. Gary was the faster swimmer and had the sensor in hand this time. Suddenly he held out a fist. They both stopped and stayed under the water. Ahead of them they saw a pair of legs moving towards the right. They'd held their breaths underwater for nearly a minute and Simon was having a hard time of it. Hearing the bubbles and muffled grunting, Gary turned to see his roommate holding his hands over his mouth, struggling to contain the bubbles. Tucking the sensor halfway into his towel, he reached over and grabbed Simon by the head, holding him down while looking over his shoulder to see if the person ahead had left. The coast was clear. They were almost through.

* * *

It was with great relief that Joseph managed to get over to the next set of bushes. Between this and his next hiding place there were only tiles. Fortunately the steam helped masked his transit, just as Mana's back was turned. The gunslinging girl whipped around, her hand reaching into her washing kit for her hidden pistol. There wasn't anyone there. A quick scan with her demon eye revealed nothing amongst the bushes.

Gasping for breath, Joseph reached for another rung on the ladder for the maintenance catwalk which crossed over the main bath. Since there weren't any plants there was no cover other than for him to crawl and hope no one looks up. The myriad of voices down below indicated that there wasn't just 3-A down there. At least two other classes he estimated were present though he couldn't see through the steam.

* * *

Gary and Simon pressed themselves up against the wall just as they heard voices ahead. Fortunately most, if not all contacts were behind them in the water.

"You going to see your dad tomorrow?" asked a familiar voice.

Gary mouthed a curse and resisted the urge to punch the wall but Simon grabbed his wrist and shook his head in warning.

"Yep. You reckon I should invite Simon?" Yuna answered Akira's question.

This time Gary had to clamp a hand over Simon's mouth.

"Definitely introduce him. They might even get along."

Simon and Gary looked at each other and through gritted teeth, both said, "Not a sound from you."

"By the way. What's with Makie and Ako consuming so much milk today at the mall?"

There was a giggle before Yuna replied, "Oh that. I was just kidding. It's my explanation for why I can fit into my new swimwear so comfortably."

"So… is that the one you're wearing right now? And why are you wearing it here?" Akira wondered aloud, sounding puzzled.

Their footsteps halted before twin squeaks indicated that they'd turned on the showers.

"Testing it out first. Can't have a wardrobe malfunction when I show it to Simon," said Yuna over the noise.

"Ok…"

Simon glared back at Gary who was smirking at him. "If I hear you speak of this I'm going to wire you up to a car battery and-"

They both ducked back as one of the girls skipped past, presumably Yuna. Gary once again had his hand over Simon's mouth as the latter caught an eyeful of the girl's maroon red bikini. To Gary's horror, he felt a trickle of warm blood leaking between his fingers from Simon's nostrils.

"Goddamn it. What the hell? You just had to bleed over my hand." An outraged Gary shook off the blood and tried to wipe his fingers on Simon's towel.

"Stop. Shut up. If we're heard now and they see us doing this what will they think?" countered Simon. "Okay. They didn't see us now. We just need to wait for your girlfrie- I mean Akira to leave and we're home free."

Gary had grabbed Simon's arm and was in the middle of punching it to achieve a dead arm before the sound of footsteps made him stop. Once again they both ducked back with Simon deliberately behind Gary. At that moment Akira walked out. Fortunately she had her towel on and didn't look to the side as she followed her friend to the water.

"_See anything you like?" asked MacTavish, gesturing at the gun rack. _

"You were looking at her rack. Weren't you mate?" teased Simon.

Involuntarily, a blushing Gary snapped back, "No I was merely looking at the gun rack."

"Is that what they're calling it now?" answered Simon, a huge grin on his face. "How unexpected of you."

"No, no you've got it totally wrong," a dismayed Gary stammered back.

It was then Simon noticed something wrong.

"Shit mate! Your cast."

He looked down and saw that the bandages over the fibreglass cast have gone red with blood.

"What the f*ck."

Cupping a hand beneath the bloody cast, Gary and Simon hurried past the last block of showers and straight into the changeroom. Inside they saw Joseph and Chamo, the former changing out of his ghillie suit.

"_Took the scenic route eh?" _

_MacTavish grinned and hefted his silenced Colt Model 656 designated marksman rifle with an attached infrared scope replacing the telescopic sight.  
_

"Shut up Chamo."

* * *

**What a way to train stealth huh? Yes that's Honey Badger indeed. **

**Around the 1980s the US military undertook trials for a single standard sidearm pistol. Back then, Beretta put forward the M92S-1 prototype which eventually became the M9 today. **

**The Colt Model 656 was an experimental Vietnam era designated marksman rifle derivative of the M16A1 with a heavy barrel and a specialised scope mount replacing the carry handle. **

**I might add in MW3 characters like SSG Derek 'Frost' Westbrook, MSG 'Sandman' from Delta Force and SG Marcus Burns and Wallcroft from the SAS much farther in the story. By that I mean around Volume 35 of the Negima manga. That is provided I get to that stage and depending on the full cast of MW3 characters when the game is eventually released. **

**Kindly Read and Review please.**


	28. Encroachment

**Sorry about keeping you guys waiting. Been unwell and had other stuff going on IRL.**

* * *

It was then that the boys came to a horrific realisation.

"I think we left our bags behind," said Joseph after he'd taken off his ghillie suit.

Simon slowly turned back to the change room entrance, saying, "If the girls find it they'll know we've been in the baths."

Gary and Joseph quietly sat down, resigned to the fact that they might have to go back out there again. Meanwhile Simon paced the room, tapping the heartbeat sensor as he tried to think of a solution.

"Hey, have you forgotten I'm here?" said Chamo. "I can get in and out without being seen."

"Oh. You again? But you can't possibly hold three bags by yourself can you?" Simon replied, looking down at him.

"What about one of the girls who know you can talk? Try and see if you can find one of them?" suggested Gary.

"I think they're all still at Evangeline's," said Joseph, "Don't know when they'll be out."

"Bugger. We have no choice but to wait until everyone's gone," concluded Simon, "And hope they don't find our stuff."

* * *

Toku Kuzunoha waited as the Dean scanned the contents of the latest security brief she'd prepared. In light of the recent attack on the Shinmei-ryu temple and the theft of a highly dangerous artefact she'd also accepted some input from Bishop who was off on a personal errand that evening.

"Hmm. A potential intrusion upon Imma-san's estate? Recommends upgrading network and security infrastructure. It's certainly a lot to do don't you agree?" said Dean Konoe bemusedly, looking up at Toku.

"I agree. It won't be a problem with our current budget. Considering how Lingshen-san gutted our security infrastructure during the festival we may have to consider using commercial off-the-shelf countermeasures for the time being. However it'll take a while to procure the licences for some of the spells we'll need," she replied, remembering some of the recommendations she'd written. "

"Fair enough. I'll have Katsurou-san fax over a request to the home country later," said the Dean, shutting the folder.

"Don't forget the last section. We've also the SAT and SFG coming here in a few weeks time," added Toku.

"Oh that? Well better ready for them now rather than later," he said, fishing out a document from a tray and handing it to her.

Mahora was one of the few places where the Special Assault Team of the National Police and the Special Forces Group from the JG-SDF were allowed to conduct biennial joint counter-terrorism exercises. Of course these were always conducted out of sight of the students; when most were away for the summer break. However it was a headache trying set up a secure barrier to prevent people from wandering in while at the same time keeping the participating personnel ignorant about magic.

"I shall begin the preparations as soon as possible," said Toku, her shoulders sagging a little at the thought of the coming workload.

This didn't go unnoticed by the Dean who then said, "Kuzunoha-sensei, go take a couple of days off. I'll get Katsurou to cover for you."

* * *

Meanwhile de Kere finished reading the same report in his room before snatching up his Bluetooth headset.

"I think we have an opportunity here don't you reckon?" he said after reaching Katsurou.

"Yeah. I know. I've been delegated with some additional responsibilities so I'll be out of touch for a while. Kanto and Kansai are keeping a closer eye on potential suspects. You're on your own for a while. I'll get back once the heat's died down a little."

"Got it," said de Kere before disconnecting.

He put down the security report and returned to studying the Negi's partners' artefact specifications according to international standards and protocols. All pactios; permanent, provisional and botched; brokered in both the Magic and Non-Magic Worlds were registered on an international database. Other information included the broker's fee in drachmas, ermine and US dollars. For obvious reasons there was a lot of debate over privacy so the database was sealed; accessible only for court subpoenas, criminal investigations and the like. For de Kere that didn't stop him from obtaining access from a hapless archivist.

At present every one of Negi's partners posed a serious threat to him and the upcoming operation. Others like Ku Fei and Kaede Nagase; identified as friends were also potential targets. Mana Tatsumiya's former employers were one of his enemies. Worst of all was Evangeline A.K. McDowell. Cutting power to the school would inevitably lift her power limiters. Chachamaru Karakuri too must be dealt with. Of course he had a plan to kill everyone he meets and anyone he has yet to meet.

There was a knock at the door.

"Meeting's in an hour. Should I get the car?"

* * *

An hour later he waited outside a hilltop house out in the middle of a forest. It was in a poor state but all the windows were sealed with glass, bars and curtains while ventilation equipment was visible. The dirt around the property was almost barren, except for a few weeds. The nearby shed was locked securely like the front door of the house. There was a very large trash pit nearby, covered by a thin layer of soil and turf. A quick rummage revealed a lot of empty bottles, tubing, jars and other chemical apparatuses. Packets for diet pills and bottles for cold medication. Empty car batteries, bottles of chemicals like sodium hydroxide, phosphorous and iodine. Not a lot of food though. Methamphetamine users didn't eat much. But then again, the inside of a drug lab was the last place any sane person would eat or drink.

De Kere's mercs had already picked the lock and installed their surveillance gear. The stagnant air inside was odious, probably because the house was sealed and the ventilation was switched off. Evidently for a long time; no signs of recent occupation. With the summer heat that wasn't surprising. He sighed impatiently, stomach growling. He hadn't eaten for a while since he had surgery scheduled in the morning. The inside of the lab was nauseating as it was. Hopefully the surgeon was more competent than the last. He'd heard good things about the local health system. The crunching of gravel beneath tyres made him turn around. The owner of the property and its contents had just arrived. He was wrong. Instead three men hopped out before he could approach. Through his earpiece, de Kere could hear the sound of safeties being switched off.

"Late as expected. I'll handle it. Stay put," he said quietly as he walked up to the men, his arms raised.

As he came closer he could see the trio were wearing the stereotypical punk getup. One of them, a slender tall guy was sporting bruise over one of his eyes, most likely from a recent fight. Another had a hooded white jacket with his sleeves rolled up, exposing the tattoos which covered every inch of skin down to his wrists. The last one reeked of tobacco as evidenced by the cigar he was smoking and the other two unlit ones he was carrying in his shirt pocket. The cigar in the mouth of the smoking thug had been chewed to the point that the tobacco was spilling out the lit end. He couldn't tell if they were packing heat but the merc leader reported over the earpiece what he thought were bulges in their back pockets. Worst of all de Kere could see they'd all been using too much of their own product. Dilated pupils, twitching fingers, jumpiness. They'd be harder to reason with too.

"_Ok, Black Eye, Tats and Cigar._" De Kere silently dubbed them as he greeted them in Japanese.

The three thugs stopped and regarded the tall Belgian for a moment. Confused, Tats who looked to be in charge took a step forward.

"This is private property. You'd better go now," he retorted in English.

De Kere smiled, keeping his palms facing outwards.

"I'd be happy to. Do you happen to be the owner of the property? If you are come regarding my proposition."

Cigar looked over a Black Eye and muttered something indistinguishable while Tats' eyes flicked past de Kere to the drug lab and back.

"Hold fire," de Kere muttered into his earpiece.

"Who's asking? There's no business here for you," he retorted angrily.

"Sokal, Jeffery," de Kere introduced himself, walking forward, "You must be the crew who run this joint. I don't want to impose upon you gentleman this evening but I'd agreed to meet with your boss regarding-"

While he said this, Tats made a hand signal to the others from behind his back. The merc leader saw this through his NVGs as he observed the three thugs stand around the car. One on each side while Tats sat on the bonnet. The moment de Kere slid his hand into his pocket, the three thugs attacked.

Tats whipped out a pistol but de Kere blurred into action. Dodging left, he caught the pistol by the barrel in the thug's extended hand before jerking it forward out of his grip. Still holding the gun by the barrel, de Kere whipped Tats across the face with the pistol's grip before landing a punch onto his temple, knocking him out cold.

At the same time Black Eye rushed him with a knife. De Kere spotted him coming out the corner of his eye and transferred the pistol into his right hand and taking up the centre axis relock-combat high stance. He only got off one shot before the poorly maintained gun jammed but Black Eye wasn't down yet. Crystal meth and a single 9mm bullet weren't going to cut it.

While Black Eye was staggered, de Kere dropped the pistol and turned just in time to dodge the overhead baseball bat swing from Cigar. While Cigar was open, de Kere stomped on the side of one of his knees. There was a crunch and a scream as the leg snapped sideways on the broken joint. Moving around behind thug who'd fallen to his good knee, de Kere grabbed him by the shoulder and then kneed him in the spine, breaking it with a subdued thump. He looked up to the sound of pounding footfalls as Black Eye tried to make a run for it.

"Oh no you don't," he said quietly, raising his index and third finger before commanding, "_Echo Seventeen Delta Niner. White Phosphorus frag arrow. Cleared hot. Engage target_."

Out shot a bolt of gray with a glowing orange hot centre. It was similar to any other Sagitta Magica shot except that it trailed smoke behind it. Once the fast moving arrow had caught up with Black Eye, it exploded into a cloud of gray smoky tendrils. A single particle of incandescent white phosphorus would continue to burn upon contact with clothing, skin and oxygen. The explosion from de Kere's Sagitta Magica strike showered Blackeye with dozens of glowing fragments. Each shard quickly ate through the man's shirt before burning through his skin and flesh down to the bone, causing 3rd degree burns within seconds. Smoke quickly engulfed Black Eye's thrashing body as his scream was cut short when his throat was choked with phosphorus pentoxide gas.

Tats lay slumped against the car, unconscious. De Kere looked down and finished him off with a kick to the face with one of his steel toed shoes. The car grille behind the man's head collapsed inward, smeared with blood and gray matter. Looking up, de Kere saw another set of headlights coming down the road.

Another man got out, the owner of the meth lab this time; dressed in a basketball shirt and a baseball cap. He took one look at the half burned corpse of his friend and the blood on de Kere's right shoe to venture a guess at what happened.

"The f*ck did you do to them!" the drug dealer asked furiously, "You kill my friends before we even meet. Is this how you-?"

He went off on a tirade of obscenities in his native language which de Kere couldn't catch.

"Hey calm down. Those friends of yours won't be missed. You and your buddies have been known to disappear for months at a time. By then I'll be gone. Besides, how are they your friends if they're just a hair trigger away from flipping out and killing your clients?"

The dealer sighed and walked over to de Kere where he noticed the other two dead men lying at his feet.

"What? How the hell did you do that to them?" he gasped, stumbling back and then leaning up against the car for support.

"That's not important. Your friends became a problem," warned the terrorist, taking a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and a wad of US dollars.

The dealer flinched, reaching for his gun which was tucked into his pants from behind. De Kere gave him an exasperated stare.

"It's your payment and instructions," he said, placing them on the bonnet of the car. "You have nothing to fear from me if you follow them."

For a while the dealer stared at him, the money and the paper before he slowly reached over and picked them both up.

"Good. I knew you'd make the right choice," said de Kere.

* * *

Bishop coughed lightly for attention at the front of the gargantuan lecture hall. The seats were arranged in tiers upwards so everyone had a good view of the speaker and the projector screen. Almost all of Mahora middle school was packed into the room so naturally there would be a great deal of chatter which all quickly died down as the new teacher began the lecture. The title screen for the powerpoint simply said OODA loop.

"Now I'm going to tell you about the OODA loop from my own experiences and how it can apply to you when you graduate. The world out there is fraught with competition and the OODA loop is something you can use to gain the upper hand if you understand it. Now you may ask what does it stand for?" Bishop began speaking over her throat microphone.

The next slide came on with the words: Observe, Orient, Decide and Act.

"You may not be aware but you go through these steps in your everyday lives. Crossing a road safely for example. Check both sides of the road for traffic. Orient. How far are the nearest cars on either side? Is there any cars waiting to turn in from the nearby adjoining roads?"

Corresponding slides with graphics of a street, cars, pedestrians and arrows appeared as she spoke.

"Decide. Okay. I will cross now that there aren't any cars coming and I'm sure there aren't any cars that are going to turn in unexpectedly. Act. Cross the road. See how I've broken down this into steps? Now that's one loop. Supposing you've got a fast car coming."

A red car appeared on the slide and began moving rapidly down the road while the pedestrian was halfway across.

"Our next loop must deal with this change in circumstances. Observe. There's a car coming in our direction. Orient. Is that the only one? How fast is it coming? Will I have time to get to the other side or should I turn back?

The red car slammed into the pedestrian.

"Loop broken. Major accident. Both the driver and the pedestrian's OODA loops failed to work fast enough to avoid this collision."

The graphic rewound so that the pedestrian and the car were about a hundred metres apart.

"Supposing we got through the orient part fast enough we move to the decision phase. The loop of our pedestrian would be smaller."

The pedestrian ran back and the car sped by.

"Now do you see what's happened? Our pedestrian here completed the OODA loop and managed to get to safety. The driver on the other hand couldn't complete his or hers in time. Hence the pedestrian's managed to get within the driver's OODA loop. In other words the pedestrian was able to make a decision and act on it with all available information faster than the driver. Now the concept of the loop was developed by the late Colonel John Boyd of the US Air Force based upon his experiences in the Korean War. Today the OODA loop is widely used in business, sport, politics, the military and law enforcement. It's a highly valuable tool if you can understand and harness it. In a competitive environment if you can receive and process information faster than your rivals and act upon it before they can, you can get within their loop and give yourself the advantage," Bishop explained to her attentive audience.

Amongst those listening intently was Negi and the rest of 3-A. Next to him, a distracted and disinterested Asuna was fidgeting.

"Asuna-san. Pay attention. This is really important," he whispered imploringly before looking up to see the next slide appear, a concept map explaining the loop.

* * *

"Well done," said Takamichi as he walked into the nearly empty hall, followed by Seruhiko, Toku and Gandolfini. "We all saw that lecture and I think all the students got a lot out of it."

Bishop who was packing up her laptop smiled her thanks and replied, "It was actually intended just for the boys but then I thought that the lesson would be applicable also to the rest of the students, whatever path they choose after graduation."

"It's a concept which you've used in a life and death situation before so it's most interesting to hear it from your perspective," Takamichi went on before looking at his watch. "Well tomorrow's Sunday and everyone's pretty much got a day off. You want to join us for a drink this evening?"

* * *

Everyone except for a few. At four in the morning, Bishop had dragged Simon, Joseph and Gary out of their dorms back to Evangeline's resort. They emerged out of the transport portal into a starkly different environment; from a dark, muggy summer morning to midday chilly setting. Simon groggily put on his sunglasses while the other two had to squint as the four of them went over to their training grounds which consisted of a tent and a firing range.

"Come on. Can't you raise the heat a little?" complained Simon while he slumped into a plastic chair inside the tent.

"A sudden transition from heat to cold as well as waking us up in the dead of night isn't exactly going to do our body and good is it?" added Joseph, settling into another next to him.

Bishop, who was cleaning the whiteboard from the previous lesson which was an introductory on rifles snapped, "Both of you shut it. You need to be ready to react to any situation at any time. No enemy in their right mind will wait until your alarm clock goes before commencing their attack."

On the foldable table in front of her she had several empty rifle magazines and bullets of varying types. Silenced by her outburst, the boys glanced curiously at the table contents as Bishop jotted down a summary of the coming lesson.

"So what's the first thing you can tell me by looking at these?" asked Bishop, turning around and picking up a three cartridges.

"That one you've got, well leftmost from where I am is a NATO 7.62x51mm rifle cartridge. British L5A1 I reckon, the orange head means tracer I'm pretty sure… But…" Gary spoke first but couldn't identify the rest.

"Correct."

Joseph got another. "The one above your pinky is a Russian 7N22 armour piercing 5.45x39mm judging by the red ring and black tip. Dunno about the rest."

"Correct. Now for the last one I'll give you a hint, it's approximately 7mm," said Bishop, "Whoever IDs it gets an early mark while the rest of us pack up."

Simon stared for a while before saying, "6.8x43mm Remington Special Purpose Cartridge."

"No it's a .270 Winchester," said Gary.

"That's bollocks, it's the SPC. We're working with military cartridges remember? Not hunting rounds," Simon retorted.

"But remember how Joseph was using the S&W Model 19 revolver chamvering .357 Magnums which isn't officially used in frontline roles nowadays," countered Gary. "We could be using anything today so get your head out of your arse."

Bishop quickly intervened as Simon muttered, "Wanker," and Gary responded in kind with, "Twat."

"Alright it's the Remington. Simon wins. Get over it Gary. You were close. Outside of USSOCOM the 6.8 hasn't found much use yet. I'll be familiarising you with a variety of cartridges before we move onto the weapons themselves. Now it's only half a day again since today is Sunday; this is to make up for the half day yesterday. TBH, I should be pushing you every day but someone's bound to notice if I keep waking you guys up at such unearthly hours," said Bishop, putting down the cartridges and returning to the board.

* * *

Inside the virtual environment generated by her artefact, Chisame frowned as she reached up with a hand before retracting it as though she'd been burnt. The local area network of Mahora was rendered as the sea. The sandy seafloor was mapped with a scaled floor plan of the entire school complex. Streams of data were represented by shoals of fishes which moved from one node to another. Protocols for the sender and receiver were marked with numbered scales while nets represented firewalls, preventing some fish from crossing the areas they the hacker girl noticed was that there was something unfamiliar within the local cyberspace. Following the incident with Chao, Chisame had a chance to play around with her artefact which made her the most powerful cyberspace entity on campus, barring Chachamaru. Her artefact assistants who had rodentesque avatars named Kincha, Hanpe, Konnya, Chikuwafu, Negi, Daiko and Shirataki too augmented her powers, enhancing her situational awareness as well as providing helpful instructions on her artefact functions and troubleshooting. Regular forays into the school networks had enabled her to become familiar with the local cyber environment. If something went wrong like a router going down she'd see its effects occurring in real time as network traffic was routed to other avenues.

What she was looking at were lines of Zebrafish, tiny transparent fishes which were very hard to spot. Strangely enough as she watched them, she realised they did not follow the same ordered yet disordered data routes as the rest of the school. What's more, they were swimming above everything else. Their transparency making them harder to spot. When Chisame bumped into one of their paths she was scalded by hot water. That meant that the unknown data network was well hidden and highly encrypted. Curious, she decided to follow the data back to their source. There had to be a hub somewhere since she couldn't locate it down in the thick of the school. As she pursued, she urged her assistants to keep their wits about them.

"Stay frosty," she warned, kicking her legs as though she were swimming while trying to keep the skirt of her artefact uniform from dragging too much.

"Aye, aye," they chirped back, darting ahead and around of her.

As she followed the unusual fish, Chisame felt the water around her rapidly grew colder and darker.

"Geez, I didn't mean it literally," she grumbled, stopping momentarily to summon some extra clothes and a head mounted torch with a twirl of her artefact sceptre.

"Chiu-sama, activity is growing stronger up ahead. We must be getting close," reported one of her assistants stopping by her face as she shrugged on a jacket.

"Uh huh, what can you identify about this network? No doubt there's something very dodgy going on with it," she asked as she pulled on an extra pair of tights over the leggings which accompanied her uniform.

"We think it's an MIL-STD-6016 tactical data exchange network," said another assistant as it fluttered by.

"Also known as a Link-16 in the US military and also used by their allies and NATO under STANAG 5516," another assistant added.

Chisame stared back, wondering which was more unnerving; their synchronicity or the nature of her quarry.

"So you're saying this is military standard stuff?"

They all nodded.

"But then why is it here? Even the Military Research Club doesn't have access to this kind of stuff. Tell me about the encryption then," she said, staring up at the streams of data fishes.

"512 bit prime-modulus elliptic curve."

"Come again?"

"Its key length is higher than NSA specifications for protecting TOP SECRET information which is 384 bit."

"So what the hell have we stumbled upon?" asked Chisame, leaning closer and trying to peer at the passing fishes. "So what is it doing here?" she asked to no one in particular.

"Chui-sama. We apologise but we have insufficient information-"

She interrupted them with an irritated sigh. "You didn't need to answer that."

Obediently, the assistants waited patiently as the hacker girl came to her decision.

"Can you break that encryption? I know it needs to have a key but surely the Sceptrum Virtuale can handle it right?" she asked; the wobble of uncertainty in her voice, picked up and analysed by her assistants.

"The Sceptrum Virtuale can generate an encryption key, however we are pushing the envelope as far as function is concerned. Cryptography goes back to the ancient days you know," said an assistant as it and the others surrounded one of the data streams.

"Cryptology today requires the application of mathematics, computer science and electrical engineering," another one explained while all of them wrapped their tails around the stream which began to glow.

"Allow us to give you an example."

Chisame's jaw went loose as she saw the hologram appear in front of her, depicting a Cartesian plane and a highly unusual curve. From the 1st Quadrant (top right) it curved downward before changing direction upwards towards the 2nd Quadrant (top left), intersecting the y-axis before continuing and curving downwards towards the x-axis. From there it was reflected about the x-axis for horizontal symmetry. A positive tangent from a point on the curve in the 1st quadrant went diagonally from the 1st Quadrant to the 3rd Quadrant (bottom left) to intersect the curve at approximately the vertex; when the curve was changing direction from negative to positive. The curve itself was denoted by the equation: y^2=x^3+ax+b.

"You've got to be kidding me! This is university level maths!" she exclaimed as more equations and graphs appeared on the hologram. "Stop that! You've proved your point!"

"Don't worry Chiu-sama. Leave the calculations to us. We're running our analysis before we decide on our next step. A brute force attack will take an indefinite amount to time to break this encryption."

In a cheerful tone another said,"Theoretically a 256 bit symmetric algorithm will have 2^256 permutations and will take 50 955 671 114 250 100 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 years to solve with brute force."

Silence ensued as Chisame replied, "I don't think I'm ready to take that risk yet. Even with magic."

* * *

"Hey I'm going out," announced Yuna as she left the bathroom.

In the lower bunk bed, Akira groggily muttered in acknowledgement.

Frowning, Yuna went up to her and whipped off the covers.

"Oh come on! What are you going to do? Mope about in bed until lunchtime like Asuna-chan?" she complained, standing hands akimbo.

"Why? The swimming teams have adjourned and Makie and Ako have gone out. Got nothing on my schedule so why can't I?" retorted Akira, reaching for the covers.

Her roommate checked her watch and said, "I haven't time to argue with you. Well. See you this afternoon."

* * *

Simon got out half an hour early. That was enough time to get back to the dorm for a shower and to brew some morning tea for his roommates when they returned. The three of them sat around the kitchen table. Gary was eating pudding after he'd poured his tea into its tub. The other two were nibbling on MRE energy bars which they made chewable by dunking into their tea. No one was in the mood for proper food after another couple hours of exercise following the rifle drills.

"It's only 8.30 and I'm already drained. This isn't right. It's like being inebriated before lunch," complained Joseph, prompting Simon to promise to make his tea stronger next time.

"Have you guys got anything going on for today?" he asked, stirring a little sugar into his mug.

"No. I was thinking we should check on Joe's creation," replied Gary before loudly licking his spoon. "You know the concoction he'd been making in the lab?"

Joseph looked a little guilty but answered, "Yeah. It'd been sitting in the refrigerator in one of Hakase-san's labs for a while now. I think it's time we went to check on it before she mistakes it for mustard or peanut butter."

Simon nodded and said, "Okay. Shall we go now?"

As he stood, Gary pointed his spoon, saying, "Uh, uh uh, Simon. It's just Joseph and I. Remember how you've got a surprise date with Yuna today?"

As he watched his roommate's face fall, he smirked and added, "Well it was supposed to be a surprise date on her part but since you'd forgotten and I reminded you… Well don't you reckon we should wait until Simon's gone off with her before we head to the labs Joseph?" He scraped his spoon into the pudding tub again, making a noise which especially annoyed Simon.

"You're one real smarmy tosspot aren't you?" he said irritably, crossing his arms while Gary tossed the empty tub and spoon out before opening another and ripping a new spoon out of its packet.

That earned him a dollop of mint-chocolate which smacked him on the cheek and the description of "prat." Before he knew what he was doing, Simon dove at his roommate, pinning him to the floor. Suddenly he felt the plastic spoon being pressed against his throat as Gary struggled to get out of his hold.

"Both of you stop! Yuna's arrived Simon!" Joseph shouted from the door.

The two of them jumped to their feet. As he did so, Simon knocked over his mug of tea, spilling it over his hand.

"Bloody hell!"

He plunged his scorched hand into Gary's ice cold pudding.

"Naff off mate. You're lucky since you don't need to clean up because of your date," growled Gary, looking with disgust at his ruined pudding.

"Cry me a bleeding river," Simon countered, shaking some of the pudding off his hand as he went over to the front door with Gary following close behind.

Waiting there with her usual wide grin was Yuna.

"Morning Simon!" she chirped, stepping in.

"Uh. Morning. You're more cheerful than usual…" replied Simon slowly; she always seemed upbeat for some reason or other.

"Guess what. We're going to visit my dad today! What do you say? He's one of the teachers here. It'd be a good idea to get to know a staff member a bit better don't you reckon?" she proposed excitedly, not noticing Simon's widening eyes and the worried glances exchanged between his roommates.

"Uh. Are you sure it's not too early?" he cut in.

"No. Course not! I love dad just as much as I- well…"

Yuna hesitated before grabbing his hand. "Oh come on! It'll be fun. You've hardly ever gotten out, what with the tests and stuff. We don't have all holidays you know! Hey what's this?"

She pointed at the dollop of pudding on Simon's face and saw that she'd grabbed his pudding covered hand. She reached up and wiped off a little of the stuff on his cheek. He tried to back away but was prevented from doing so by Gary and Joseph.

"Tastes like mint. Here, get yourself cleaned up this time," said Yuna, pulling out a handkerchief and passing it to him.

"You know. I didn't get a bite from that pudding before Simon got it all over himself," Gary whispered to Joseph, "You know what that means don't you mate?"

"Yeah. Indirect kiss."

Simon overheard and gave them both the two-fingered salute from behind his back.

* * *

Chisame watched the grid of ever changing numbers on the holographic display.

"You know. Maybe we shouldn't be trying to crack it. Let's trace it and report it anonymously to the IT department," she said, normally she regarded the IT administrator of Mahora as nothing but a bureaucratic buffoon who didn't know which side of a remote to use.

The revelations and implications were disturbing and Chisame, even with her artefact was feeling out of her depth.

"Rodger. Should we keep a log of what we've managed to solve so-"

A sudden chill and what sounded like a submarine sonar ping made Chisame and her electronic assistants freeze. Looking up, the hacker realised that the normally well lit cyber sea above her had gone very dark. The cold was making her teeth chatter and that wasn't the only thing which was making her scalp tingle.

"Chui-sama! You're in grave danger! We must abort all operations and leave at once!" her assistants squeaked urgently.

"Why? What is it?" shouted Chisame, looking about as the darkness descended closer and closer.

"It's Black ICE!"

"What?"

"Intrusion Countermeasures Electronics. The Black variants unlike White and Gray which are passive and defensive protective measures respectively will trace, pursue and destroy any hardware from which the intrusion has occurred."

Chisame had heard similar terms before as she argued, "I've heard of such stuff from cyberpunk media. Are you sure?"

"Yes we are!" they replied, "We're aborting immediately in order to protect you."

The cold had become unbearable at this stage and the darkness was total except for the fading glow of her assistants and her sceptre. It was then that Chisame felt the ICE crystallising onto her skin, numbing it and drawing away heat as the program attempted to trace her. Instead of being translucent, it had the appearance of black lights (UV) like those in rave parties. The water around her was gradually solidifying from the cold. As she opened her mouth to cry out, she found her jaw was locked up by the cold. Any attempt to struggle drew blood as the ICE crystals became razor sharp, cutting straight through cloth and into her skin.

* * *

"Argh!" shrieked Chisame, sitting bolt upright on the sofa in her dorm, still dressed in her pactio uniform.

For once she yearned for her absentee roommate, Satomi to be present. Panting hard, she looked over at her phone which was ringing. The caller ID was that of one of her assistants.

"Chiu-sama. We got you out just in time before the Black ICE could fully trace you!" the assistant which called, jabbered.

"Traced. More like skinning me alive!" she retorted, now angry.

"We're not lying, that was tracing. You don't want to know what's to follow. Believe us, you'll prefer tentacle pervert monsters if you knew."

Chisame sighed, calming down a little while readjusting her glasses.

"Tell me that wasn't created under a NATO Standardised Agreement."

* * *

**A lot of this I pulled out of my arse so I'm sure I made quite a few technical errors. Let me know if I got anything wrong. You'd be better off trying to find out about the OODA loop yourself. I just made that example up. **

**I was also unsure of the limits of Chisame's artefact since there's a whole lot of other stuff in computing which is reliant on maths and other stuff. There might be some other functions to her artefact which haven't yet seen use or been mentioned in the manga at the moment.**


	29. Vacant

**It's been a while hasn't it? I'll try and update more frequently. **

**So many things have ended recently, Modern Warfare, Gears of War, Mass Effect and now Mahou Sensei Negima. In light of that I need to pick things up with this story.**

**Once again, I don't own anything of Negima or Modern Warfare.**

* * *

"_What would MacMillan say about this?_" wondered Price as he pulled his gaze away from the view outside the Pave Low and stood up to join Soap at the lowering rear ramp.

The Russian piloting the helicopter was Nikolai; the codename he'd always gone by. Before joining Task Force 141, Nikolai was a member of a KGB unit which defected to Megalosembria Confederation. Specifically Spetsgruppa Vympel; the KGB's Tier 1 Special Forces. Sensing an opportunity, the Confederation handed them over to General Shepherd who inserted him and his comrades into Hellas as agents for Task Force 141. Despite Nikolai and his comrades' background in the Soviet bloc and TF141 from the West; they'd developed a very close working relationship. This was helped by the fact that Nikolai owed his life to Price and Soap during the Hellain civil war.

Not that mission with MacMillan thirty years ago at the Pavonis Mons Zone of Alienation had Price seen such utter desolation. What used to be the capital city of Ostia was abandoned in that incident ten years later. The network of floating islands and platforms had sunk to the ground, never to be raised again. Thousands were buried beneath the sand and rocks of the wasteland and no one dared return, not even looters. Nature didn't dare claim these buildings either, save for noxious weeds which clustered around the bases. Where ever there was vegetation, it was always pale, thin and sickly. The magnificent buildings and monuments of the city didn't look any better. Neglect had long peeled away most of the paint and smoothed or eroded the features.

"50 000 people used to live at Pavonis. 50 million people used to live here. It's more than a ghost town. It's a country obliterated," said Price quietly, not looking at Soap.

The other man merely answered with a grunt. Taciturn as usual whenever he was on the job, Soap was rechecking the gear on his tactical vest. On a previous operation, an assassination against a Shadow Company officer, the red dot sight for his rifle had lost power due to a piece of shrapnel which had speared the battery half an hour earlier. Since he was pinned down with little cover, he couldn't find the batteries amongst his kit. After that, he'd learnt to keep spare batteries close by along with backup iron sights.

"You have an hour before the next satellite passes overheard. We have to be gone by then," said Nikolai over the radio.

"Don't need to remind us," said the Captain, adjusting his hat as the helicopter lowered onto the ground, kicking up sand and dust.

"Far be it for me to tell you this but I still think you should have brought more men," said Nikolai while Soap hopped off, "No one ever sets foot in Old Ostia except for the military or bandits."

"We need to minimise our footprint here," Price replied before disembarking.

"Da. Good luck to both of you."

The helicopter departed as quickly as the two men had disappeared into the surrounding foliage.

"I'm heading west and north around the perimeter Soap," said Price as he pulled out a map of the factory they were preparing to infiltrate.

The place was abandoned like the rest of the industrial district. Since there was the risk of chemical leaks, both men had gasmasks at the ready. Although some of the medics recommended full MOPP gear they declined. They needed to travel light and fast and they mustn't leave evidence of their passing.

"Right then, I'll head in from the southern corner. There's a drainage outlet here I might be able to fit through," added Soap.

"If I'm not at the roof in fifteen minutes I'll signal you so don't enter the main building. Take up overwatch from that pylon if it's still standing. Otherwise find an elevated position and await my call," the Captain instructed before folding up the maps and stowing them away.

"Don't need to tell me twice. Race you there," said the younger man as he turned away and disappeared while Price did the same in the opposite direction.

* * *

As tempting as it was to hug the outer walls of the compound, Soap had learned a long time ago that wasn't a good idea. Projectiles and spells approaching at a shallow angle will ricochet at a shallow angle. The road separating the wall and the blocks of warehouses was laden with potholes and wrecks of vehicles behind which Soap hid, scanning all around him with his HK417 battle rifle. He'd fitted a suppressor onto the 16" barrel along with an EOTech sight for this mission. A Shadow Company communications uplink node would most likely be well guarded. Out here in the wastelands, no one in their right mind would stay around long enough to stumble upon it. An earlier flyover by UAV confirmed no heat or mana signatures indicative of sentience in the vicinity. Soap took the time to carefully and quietly proceed down the road to reach his drain outlet. While he did this, he made sure to scatter his footprints and check for any other recent ones.

"I'm at the outer gate which is locked. I'll try to look for another way in," Price reported at the fifteen minute mark.

By then, Soap had only just found the drain outlet which was about one and a half metres high. Just enough for him to crouch inside.

"I'm barely ahead. Just found my outlet. I'll try and secure the south western half before finding that pylon," answered Soap, shining the tactical light attached to the barrel of his 417 through the drain gate.

"I'll let you know once I'm there."

With that, Soap reached for the rusted hinged gate and pulled it open. Allowing it to rest on a pile of decomposed leaves which had gathered underneath; Soap stepped in while keeping his rifle trained on the inside. Carefully he shut the gate behind and proceeded forward, ignoring the faint smell of things which had died and rotted away years. He considered going for his nightvision goggles but decided against it after seeing the holes in the pipe which allowed the weak sunlight.

Further up ahead it looked like the drain tunnel had collapsed. Worried that he might need to blast or dig his way out, Soap looked for a larger patch of light which may allow him to climb out. He estimated he'd gone fifty metres in the darkness so he was well past the fence. Brushing a few intruding tree roots aside, Soap froze when he felt what seemed like a hand beneath his gloves. Training snapped him out of it, as he withdrew his hand and reached for his combat knife. Fortunately, it was nothing more than an old ragged cleaner's glove which fell to pieces when he poked it with the tip.

Grumbling, Soap found the largest hole and squeezed out into a near empty courtyard. As he did so, he heard a clatter as one of his packs detached itself from his vest. Holding down another curse, Soap leaned down and grabbed the item which had fallen. As he did so, there was another clatter which echoed this time. Soap turned his head to look back down the tunnel towards the entrance which was just a small circle of light against the dark. Deciding it was nothing; the soldier left the hole and glanced around for something to block it with. There was nothing suitable for the job so he instead cast a motion sensing spell around the edges and linked it back to a claymore mine, hiding it behind an adjacent clump of weeds.

Once he was done, Soap scanned the courtyard around him. Already he could see evidence of recent activity. Some of the grass was flattened in parallel lines, meaning at least one vehicle had passed through recently. A fairly heavy vehicle as well. Soap followed it with his eyes from the gravelled track leading to the locked east gate all the way past several empty rusting shipping crates up to the warehouse. Since Price hadn't replied yet and it had been thirteen minutes, Soap assumed Price was making good progress, though cutting it a little close.

"He's an old man all right," he muttered, making his way over to the stairs on the outside wall of the building.

As he began ascending, a little apprehensive of the stair's integrity, Price chimed in.

"Soap I'm at the warehouse's western entrance. Are you in position?"

With a sigh, Soap picked up the pace while answering, "Nearly there. Thought you weren't going to make it for a while then."

He glanced at his chronometer. Fourteen minutes and thirty eight seconds.

"_Guess he isn't so old after all_."

* * *

"Pick it up then. I'm ready to go," said the Task Force leader a little impatiently, his back pressed up against the wall next to the western side door.

A little bit of plaster shook off the wall and dropped on his boonie hat which he brushed off with a gloved hand, taking care not to shake it onto his M4A1 instead. This was supposed to be a covert operation so he'd attached a suppressor but just in case needed more stopping power he had his Desert Eagle pistol.

"I'm ready old man. I can see the door," reported Soap over the radio.

Good. That meant he was covering him through one of the large holes in the roof. Price acknowledged his readiness and slid a fibre optic snake cam under the door. No trip wires or traps to be seen and no one waiting behind the door either. Quietly, he wedged the door open, keeping his M4 trained on the gap as it widened until it was just enough for him to slide through without catching onto any of his gear. With one foot he slowly pushed it shut behind him as he scanned the abandoned building.

Sunlight could be seen beaming down through the gaps in the roof. Air currents from the shattered windows and other entrances stirred up dust and other debris which rolled and floated about lazily. The floor was mostly empty except for the parts of the roof which had fallen there long ago as well as the occasional pylon lying on its side. There were a few upturned chairs and desks as well as other unrecognisable pieces of machinery, some of them warped by heat most likely from a fire. Here and there the ground was scorched black or cracked open where vegetation could grow though only if there was sunlight directly above. There was a set of stairs which lead up to an office and catwalk. A perfect place to reach Soap or if Soap needed to reach him.

The darkened corners was what Price checked out first as he clambered over a set of railings and searched the warehouse thoroughly while Soap was on overwatch. Once he'd cleared the ground floor in seven minutes, Price signalled that he was going up to the office while mentioning the catwalk as Soap repositioned to cover him. The door had come off the frame and Price could already see through its shattered windows so he entered quickly but carefully but there was nothing to be found up there either.

"There's bugger all in here. Rakan told us there would be something," reported Price as he went back down the stairs, "Come down here Soap."

Once the two of them were down on the ground floor, Price said, "No sign of any transmitter but there were footprints around here. Boot sized. And it looked like something was wheeled in here as well."

He pointed to a parallel set of tracks which cut through the dusty ground.

"I hear. Shall we follow them?" suggested the younger man, following Price as he followed the tracks.

"It's hear where it all terminates," he said, stomping his steel capped boots lightly while Soap studied the ground before looking up at the hole in the roof directly above.

"Wait a second," he said, "I'll be right back in a jiffy. I think I am onto something."

With that, he took off back up the stairs to the office and then the catwalk and the ladder up to the roof. Meanwhile Price crouched down and scooped up a handful of dust from the ground. That was when he felt something under his hand. This time he poked at the ground, feeling something elastic resisting. Carefully, he brushed away the dust and dirt but found only hard concrete underneath. Carefully he stood up straight and dug into the ground with his boot, only to feel a thump as the sole struck something hard and bounced off. Next he tried the tip of his knife and found that it turned away as expected. However, pressing his fingers against the surface of the ground had a different effect. The concrete actually felt soft under pressure.

"Price?"

Soap had approached without making a noise, holding out a piece of metal.

"I cut this out from the roof above us. That hole was cut recently. See these burrs? They haven't rusted yet and they're still sharp enough to cut skin," he reported as Price examined it.

"I think you're right. And there's something down here below us too," he said before informing Soap of his discovery.

A little later, the two of them had worked out the obstacle. It was really a pliable membrane which hardened against impacts but against shearing forces it would give way. When shut, it would reseal itself without leaving any evidence of ever being opened. Carefully, the two men used a spreading knife from a ration kit and opened a small tear in the membrane before peeling it away like the rind of a fruit. What it revealed below was what they were looking for. An antennae, upon which they saw the recognisable Shadow Company insignia printed discreetly on a control panel. The shaft in which it was contained could lift it up and through the hole in the roof.

"Plant the tap and call for extraction," said Price, raising his gun and staying on guard as Soap leaned down carefully and opened the panel.

"Okay. It's-"

An explosion outside almost made Soap fall down the shaft but Price's boot came down hard on the back of Soap's thigh.

"What was that?" the Task Force commander asked as Soap rolled over and jumped to his feet.

"My claymore. Something must have set it off."

"Then we're compromised. I'm calling Nikolai."

While Price did that, Soap saw a shadow moving in a nearby doorway. He gave the Captain a tap on the shoulder and pointed while he raised his gun. Someone came limping out but there wasn't much detail the two soldiers could ascertain from where they were.

"Identify yourself!" Price called out, taking a step forward but receiving no answer.

Through his red dot sight he could see the clothes on the person were really old. What's more this person looked very old. His or her skin appeared desiccated, almost like a mummy. The hair had apparently fallen off as well. In fact they couldn't even tell if this shambling wreck of a person is human or not, nor could they identify gender. Then there were the glowing yellow eyes and the bestial snarls it vocalised.

"Halt!" warned Soap, "We don't want to hurt you."

The thing ignored him and continued to shuffle towards them. Price fired one into its leg, causing it to stumble and groan for a moment before going on with no indication of pain. This time Soap opened fire, hammering the creature down with shots to the torso.

"Zombie," the Captain commented as they both approached the creature which was just beginning to get up.

He finished it with a stomp to the head, crushing it. The younger man meanwhile examined the injuries they'd inflicted on it.

"Look, bodily fluids are flowing. Reverse clotting," he pointed out, "Necromancy."

Price nodded grimly as they both headed for the exit he'd come through.

"And walking corpses of such simplicity cannot wander far from their conjurer," he said, reaching for the door handle before a noise behind them at the far end of the warehouse made them both stop cold.

The warehouse doors were opening. From the noise it made it must have been a recently installed mechanism. Scores of glowing yellow, eyes like cats stared back at the two soldiers at the far end. While Soap raised his 417 to engage, Price again reached for the door only for it to fly open in his face, knocking him down. There was a zombie right on top of him. Contrary to popular belief, the smell of its breath wasn't actually that putrid. It smelled very earthy though. Putrid or not, Price immediately head-butted it on the chin, feeling its lower mandibles slide backwards into its throat and its grip loosen slightly on his shoulders. That was enough for him to punch it backwards and reach for his pistol. By the time it had recovered and lunged at him again, Price had his Desert Eagle up and ready. A bullet through the neck severed the head while the body pitched forward to lie at his feet.

"What's the holdup old man?" Soap called out as he reloaded his battle rifle.

He'd stopped most of the zombies halfway across the warehouse but more were streaming in from the other entrances too. As he tossed a grenade, Price stopped another three in the doorway with his pistol, each boom leaving a gaping wound on the undead, before slamming the door shut and locking it.

"Courtyard's a no go. To the roof!" he shouted before getting on the radio, "Nikolai, we need immediate extraction from the rooftop! Lots of hostiles closing in. We're on the verge of being overrun!"

"Acknowledged Captain Price. ETA three minutes," replied Nikolai.

* * *

On the roof of a building several kilometres away, watching the roof upon which Price and Soap clambered, there stood a very tall figure with a pair of binoculars. It was clad in heavy ceramic and Kevlar armour, complete with a helmet which concealed its face and head entirely. Behind it were two Shadow Company commandos, one on an RBS-70 laser guided anti-aircraft missile system while the other had another missile ready to load. As the Pave Low came into view, the seven foot tall Juggernaut pointed and gave the approved signal to fire.

* * *

Nikolai swore as he detected the missile on the radar closing in. Since there was no radar lock it was most likely riding on a laser beam or it was a heat seeker. If it detonated within thirty metres the helicopter would be hit and no same pilot could depend on armour to protect his vehicle.

"Start the music," he instructed to his co-pilot who began activating countermeasures.

"We've got a SAM launch. Hang in there as we deal with it. We'll come get you as soon as we're done," Nikolai announced.

"You'd better hurry. They're trying to reach us on the roof now!" shouted Price over the radio.

Nikolai picked up altitude as he tracked where the launch had originated. The missile was almost upon the helicopter but the array of countermeasures included laser jammers which threw the beam off course and the missile with it. It was a near miss at thirty metres as the helicopter banked heavily in case the missile operator still had control.

"I see it!" announced the co-pilot, "Rooftops, two o'clock. Left of the one with the billboard."

* * *

The launcher was prepped with another missile as the RBS operator attempted to stay on target while the Pave Low jinxed from side to side, coming ever closer. The missile launched but the helicopter flew up and over the roof, while the missile flew under harmlessly and curved up from behind having lost its target.

"Let them have it!" shouted Nikolai to the rear ramp gunner with the M2 machine gun in the back.

The armoured giant didn't move as fifty calibre shells shredded the rooftop, smashing the launcher and tearing apart its operator and the other trooper. In fact the very roof collapsed, throwing up clouds of dust.

"No life signs or movement detected. I think we got them," reported the gunner before Nikolai turned the helicopter around and sped towards Price and Soap.

* * *

The two men had learned to fire at sections of the roof, collapsing them so the zombies would fall through. However that also served to make their footing all the more perilous. Down below on the ground floor they could see about a hundred or so milling about with more climbing the pylons, stairs and ladder to reach them.

"I'm putting a grenade on that catwalk, watch my back," Soap called out, ripping one out of his webbing before taking a moment to judge his throw.

Carefully, he pulled the pin and waited before lobbing it through the roof. It exploded right over the bars holding the catwalk up, taking out a bunch of zombies with it. Immediately the entire metal structure came thundering down upon the others while Soap and Price ducked away, hoping that their own bit of roof won't collapse too. It was then they heard the thudding of helicopter blades.

"Nikolai's here. Let's move!" shouted Price, leaping to his feet and jumping over a hole with Soap following.

Pursing them were the undead but fewer now that the catwalk was gone. Just then Price stumbled as one foot plunged through a weakened tile of roof.

"I got you old man!"

Soap had caught him under the arm.

"Thanks!"

The helicopter turned around and the ramp lowered as the loading crew fired their weapons to cover the two as they ran for their lives. First went Price, followed by Soap. Even before the ramp raised itself, one of the zombies made a running leap and caught it by its fingers. While the Pave Low gained altitude, Price walked over and crushed its fingers with a stomp, sending it plummeting to the ground. As he sat down, one of the crew passed Price a headset so he could talk to Nikolai.

"You got what you needed Price?"

"We did. But I'm doubtful we'll get any useful intel now," he replied, looking at Soap who was working on a laptop.

"It all seemed like a trap. That walled in compound followed by the SAM," answered Nikolai.

"Good thing they underestimated you," complimented Soap, "Or maybe their aim is worse than usual. But we'd be dead if you hadn't got to us in time."

"Da. Now leave me alone. I'm sure you'll want to review what I've risked my ass dodging a missile for," said Nikolai.

Price turned to the younger man and asked, "So anything?"

Soap shook his head.

"This thing's a blank slate."

* * *

From the rubble of the collapsed building, the Juggernaut crawled out and got to its feet with surprising agility. Its bonded armour quickly regenerated itself, sealing up splits and cracks. The left arm was bent at an awkward angle at the elbow which it corrected with a yank and twist of the forearm. Anyone capable of pain perception would have blacked out from that alone. The being which was bound to the Juggernaut armour was a lich. A sentient being once upon a time, its soul no longer inhabits a living body but a dead in exchange for immortality; growing ever more dangerous as it acquired more and more knowledge throughout its unlife. A modern day lich however must be more than this. Riddled with cybernetics and other magical implants and wearing its bounded armour, it could possibly be one of the most dangerous undead entities barring Evangeline.

"Volk," said a soft voice in Russian on the other end of the connection inside the Juggernaut's helmet.

"Yes," it answered back with a deep electronic voice in the same language.

"You're needed on Earth. Report in as soon as you arrive."

* * *

"And here it is," announced Joseph, opening the laboratory fridge and taking out a jar half filled with a viscous brown liquid, "Allen's homemade napalm."

Gary's initial excitement quickly died with the smell of the stuff. In fact it reeked though the jar of sealed. The two of them were gathered around a lab bench with the napalm, a cigarette lighter, a board for heating and burning and a jar of paddle pop sticks. As the American began scooping out the napalm onto the board, Gary's hands started trembling as the odour of petroleum hit his nose in full. The ventilation fan didn't help much either.

Suddenly he was covered in it. Petroleum soaking his clothes down to the skin. Already it was burning as it touched his wounds. The roaring of the ventilation fan became the howling of VTOL craft. And that cigar was flying right at him.

"What's wrong? Why are you all the way over there?" asked Joseph as he held the lit cigarette lighter and a paddle pop stick.

"It's nothing. I'm just getting ready. In case of an accident," the other boy stuttered back as he edged for the fire extinguisher.

"You're not chickening out are you?"

"N-No."

Joseph rolled his eyes and said, "We made this together. So it's only right that we both see the results together okay? That way if Simon calls BS on either of us we can back each other up."

"I'll be fine from here. I can see it clearly."

"Suit yourself," said Joseph, looking back at the napalm.

In fact, it actually looked more like off-colour honey. He flicked on the lighter and held it to the stick, waiting a while for a flame to build up before dropping it on the dollop of napalm on the tray. The mixture ignited rapidly with a very strong flame. The smoke was quickly sucked up by the fan but Joseph still caught an oily whiff of it.

"_Who could possibly love the smell of napalm? It smells like absolute shit._"

Holding a metal rod in a glove, he carefully began spreading the flaming napalm like he's spreading honey on toast. The stuff still had a thick consistency but it worked.

* * *

It was about nine in the morning by the time Yuna had taken or dragged Simon across the campus over to the apartments where the staff, their dependants and other personnel of Mahora resided.

"And what explanation do we have now that possibly half of Mahora has seen us together," Simon wondered aloud, "We'd only known each other for a few weeks and already I'm about to meet your old man. That's a little bit fast don't you think?"

Yuna shook her heat and pouted a little, saying, "Simon-kun, I'm bringing you along for approval. You don't think I'd date you without my dad's approval now would you?"

Simon's eye twitched a bit while he answered, "Usually what I'm used to is- approval comes later, after the dating."

"So are you saying that based on your perspective that we've been going out up till now?"

"No. I'm just saying that's the arrangement I'm used to."

"And so you've dated someone before me?"

"No I haven't."

"Aww. That's sweet. Your first time then?" said Yuna, clutching onto his arm. "It's also my first time."

Simon huffed in reply, saying, "Yeah yeah. Let's get this over with. Maybe your dad will throw me out before lunch."

The girl scowled back at him and said, "Don't keep thinking like that. Today is a good day I know it will be."

"It's easy for you to say that," Simon replied.

By then they'd reached a block of apartments, the front door which Yuna had unlocked. When Simon made to open it for her first, she'd already pushed her way through, though not without yanking him along by the wrist.

* * *

Professor Akashi, Yuna's father was sequestered in his study as usual, reading over the latest analysis reports regarding the Fate Averruncus. Since there wasn't any school related work to be done, he'd neglected to groom himself for the last few days. As well as this, his apartment had fallen into a state of severe untidiness since Yuna's last visit when he'd fallen ill. So engrossed he was that he didn't hear the front door open or the sound of voices coming closer.

"Morning dad!" Yuna called out after she wrenched open the door to his study.

At the same time, a tall stack of books nearby which had been disturbed by the sudden movement toppled over, knocking her to the ground and half burying her with a cry.

"Oh. Sorry about that Yuna. But you should try the other door next time," said her father as he quickly began stowing away the reports.

This didn't escape his daughter's notice as she immediately said, "You just hid something now didn't you?"

Feigning confusion, Akashi replied unconvincingly, "Uh. No I didn't hide anything."

Getting to her feet this time and rushing up to her father who was blocking access to his desk, Yuna accused, "No I definitely saw you hiding something then. You can't fool me now."

"No seriously. There's nothing for me to hide here."

"Yoink!"

Yuna dodged around to the side and snatched up a thick manila envelope before proceeding to open it.

"Erotic magazines?" she said numbly, tossing the first one to the side and then looking at the next. "What's this? You perverted old man!"

She proceeded to toss the remainder at her dad as he rushed out of the room to escape her wrath.

"Ow! Goddammit!"

She halted as soon as she'd left the study to see her dad and Simon had collided in the living area.

"Dad, do you know where you're putting your hand now?"

Later, Professor Akashi and Simon were sitting at the kitchen table, the latter looking very embarrassed and the former nursing a bruised chest.

"_Great. My first encounter with old Akashi involved getting my junk grabbed. Fantastic way to start_."

"_So Yuna's taken a shine to this kid? I wouldn't object but what's with his emo hair and look?_"

"Well at least you two apologised to each other and it's not as though I don't mind you looking at an ero book or two," said Yuna cheerfully from the stove. "Not you though," she added pointedly towards Simon who rolled his eyes.

While everyone was eating later, Akashi complimented, "That's really good Yuna. I haven't had a breakfast of such quality in a while."

His daughter laid down her fork in confusion and queried, "By your standards? What do you normally eat then?"

Akashi sheepishly answered, "Well it's like curry in sealed packs which don't need to be microwaved."

"What? Eating packet food for breakfast! That's unacceptable!" exploded Yuna, "You'll die if you keep it up!"

Simon spoke up when she'd calmed a little, "He's kind of right. It's cheap, quick, easy and tastes nice when it's cold."

He promptly shut up when Yuna glared at him though her dad gave him a nod in agreement.

"Perhaps I should move back here. You don't appear to be able to take care of yourself," suggested Yuna.

Akashi waved that off gently, saying, "Oh that's not necessary. I'll be fine living on my own. Besides, the commute to school will be difficult from here." He took another bite of his food and swallowed before smiling and adding, "But I think you're on the way to forming a good relationship."

At this, Simon discreetly excused himself, taking his plate, bowl and utensils with him to the sink.

Yuna beamed back, replying with, "Why thank you dad. One day I guess I will marry you then."

Akashi choked on the juice he was sipping while Simon nearly smashed a plate against the sink. Yuna glanced about in bewilderment.

"What's wrong?"

Simon spun around and looked from her to Akashi disbelievingly.

The professor cleared his throat and said, "Yuna. You know that at this age, such comments are inappropriate," before leaning forward and saying quietly, "Especially when there's company."

* * *

"How do you like your new body?" asked Satomi proudly while she watched Chachamaru sitting up on the operating table or workbench in the lab.

The robot, in a smaller body than her usual one with shorter hair and altered antennae, blinked a couple of times before answering, "This platform is sufficient and there are no problems."

Satomi beamed and said, "Excellent. This compact version you're using is capable of carrying miniaturised versions all the modules from your original body. These include your processors which can run all those extra lines of code I analysed and compiled from the combat data you logged during the Festival. Theoretically that should enable you to perform instant movement techniques."

"Yes I am aware that this platform is more efficient in size. However I would prefer to continue using my previous body," said Chachamaru, making an effort not to upset her classmate and co-creator.

To her relief, Satomi shrugged and said, "Oh, really? Not to worry. Chao-san did future proof all the designs for your modules and bodies so you can revert to your previous platform with all the aforementioned upgrades. If you want, I have more in the making." She walked over to another bench and whipped off the cloth covering it. "Oh and I also have a platform with the appearance of a ten-year old in case you want to pair up with Negi-kun."

Chachamaru was about vocalise her objection before the fire alarm began ringing. Satomi looked puzzled as she crossed the lab and slid open the door.

"That's funny. There shouldn't be anyone in this building save for us," she said, stepping out into the hall.

The android got off the bench and switched on her array of sensors. The thermal and heartbeat sensors caught on first.

"We have a fire on this floor, Lab EO 03," she reported, following Satomi who nodded and grabbed a fire extinguisher from a nearby rack.

"I've also checked the sign-in log at the reception computer. The only other people in the building at this hour are Joseph Allen and Gary Sanderson."

Satomi frowned as she tried remembering before she said, "Oh yes that's right. Allen-kun came around not long ago, needing a lab to conduct an experiment. He was working with chemicals I think. Whatever it was, he's in trouble now."

As they neared the lab, the air became thick, oily and foul. Fortunately ventilation appeared to be working since there was little smoke. Once they were outside, they could hear shouting from within and the blasting of a fire extinguisher. Chachamaru's thermal sensor detected an intense blaze inside while the chemical sensors in her nose detected hydrocarbons and aromatics in the air. Taking the lead, she pulled open the door and entered first.

"Stay back," she warned.

Immediately she caught sight of Gary who was lying slumped up against the wall near the door. She could detect life signs from the boy. On the fire side of the room she saw the fire engulfing half the lab which Joseph was trying to put out with a fire extinguisher. After a quick assessment of the situation, Chachamaru immediately instructed Satomi to pull Gary out of the room and to provide first aid if applicable. Her next priority was to get Joseph out. The android sprinted across the room and vaulted over several benches along the way to reach him. Joseph turned when he heard her approach. The sight of her made him drop the extinguisher before Chachamaru grabbed his waist without wasting time and spirited him out of the room. Outside, Satomi and run off to find a first aid kit from the floor reception office. Briefly, Chachamaru took a moment to check on Gary before telling Joseph to lie down. The boy numbly gave a nod of compliance. After that, Chachamaru re-entered the lab, unveiling a nozzle from her left forearm while she picked up the fallen fire extinguisher in her other hand. Her fire fighting module included reservoirs of compressed fire suppressant foam. Her outer skin was impervious to the heat and insulated her internal components well so she was able to put the blaze out quickly by getting to the largest of the flames. After that, a quick analysis of the debris, most notable a lab bench which looked like it had melted revealed several incendiary chemicals needed for napalm. When she went back out into the corridor, Joseph and Satomi were both trying to revive Gary.

"He has only passed out. Though not from smoke inhalation," Chachamaru noted, joining them.

"I know, he just fainted on the spot when the fire engulfed the entire bench," said Joseph.

"Here."

Chachamaru reached into the first aid kit and pulled out a small sealed packet. After ripping it open, she placed the small white tablet from inside under Gary's nose before giving strict instructions to the others not to disturb. After about a minute, the boy's eyes opened, followed by an expression of pain and disgust as he swiped the offending tablet off his nose.

"Ugh! What was that?"

"Smelling salts," said Chachamaru, looking down at him.

"What? Where am I? Joe?"

Joseph said, "You're outside the lab. There was a fire and you just fainted. It's all under control now."

Gary paled as the memory returned.

Satomi looked to Chachamaru before she said, "I believe the both of you owe us an explanation. But before we get to that, we have a few questions to ask you. Chachamaru, feel free to use chemical persuaders."

As she went into the lab, the gynoid raised a finger as a hypodermic needle emerged from the end.

The two boys at her mercy shrunk away as she said, "Readying truth drug."

* * *

Simon voiced aloud what Akira, Makie and Ako were thinking, "Stalking your dad is just weird Yuna."

The five of them were hiding around a corner, watching Yuna's dad as he conversed with a blond, short haired woman at a café table.

"I see no reason why you shouldn't support him if he's started dating," added Makie.

"Agreed. That woman looks very pretty and they look nice together," said Ako.

"No. You don't get it do you! She's stealing him away from me!" Yuna retorted angrily, "Dad should have told me this before. How can I trust him now if he's keeping this from me?"

"Yuna-san, I think you should tone that done a little. You're creeping us out and Reilly-san too for that matter," said Akira.

* * *

"That's just Yuna and her friends. Nothing to be worry about from them," Akashi said in English while Donnet McGuiness, his old friend nodded, "Just look natural. To anyone else we're just having a chat over coffee, nothing more."

"I see them. Isn't that precocious? I heard Yuna performed exceptionally well during the Festival," she said, "Just like her mother. And is that young man, Mr Reilly with her?"

Professor Akashi smiled tiredly and said, "That's him all right. Of all the boys she could have brought back, it had to be this one. He doesn't that interested in her from what I've seen so far. But Yuna was awfully quick to introduce us. I wonder what she's up to?"

McGuiness gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm which caused the observing Yuna to convulse with jealous anger.

"She's trying to get your attention. Also, from what I've read, Mr Reilly's a little bit of a troublemaker himself. Rather like Yuna and her mother."

The sight of Akashi finishing his coffee signalled that this aspect of the conversation was over.

"Okay. Let's summarise what we've learnt recently. We haven't found any links between Chao Lingshen and Fate Averruncus."

"I see. So she was working alone in this case. Her story about being a time traveller is a major complicating factor. The Dean didn't report this incident because there weren't any casualties. But you can imagine the fallout."

McGuiness then said approvingly, "A wise decision. You got to hand it to his foresight."

"What's problematic is the intrusion by Herr von Herrmann's intrusion on school grounds. This was a most grievous security breach, especially just before the Festival. After that, Chao's activities left us horribly exposed."

"We have been able to identify a link between von Herrmann and Averruncus," said the woman, taking another sip of her coffee, "After interviewing Mr Springfield's acquaintance, Mr Inugami."

* * *

"That's one intensive conversation they're having," commented Ako.

"Yeah, how far do you think they've gone?" Makie wondered aloud next to her.

Simon who was watching as well added, "Well you got to hand it to Akashi-san. He's got good taste."

That got him a whack on the back of the head from Yuna."

"Hey! I can go blind if you keep doing that."

* * *

"The recent disappearance of the Hina Blade has everyone concerned as you may know. However there's been other disturbing incidents which I cannot reveal at this time. The primary suspect in all this is Bastian de Kere," said McGuiness who raised a hand before Akashi could reply, "I know most info on him is classified. Even what's publicly available doesn't tell the whole story."

Akashi leaned forward and asked quietly, "So what can you tell me now?"

McGuiness' lips curled before she answered, "You remember how everyone thinks Makarov is dead and that de Kere was merely his replacement. The evidence doesn't add up since de Kere has been operating in the same time-frame as Makarov, though never at the same time."

"What? They're the same person?"

"Possibly Makarov was a nom de guerre used by de Kere. But that leaves the question of where de Kere came from. We managed to find one lead. The Joint Magical Institute for Security Cooperation."

Akashi blanched a little at this, saying, "That's basically the magical version of the School of the Americas. Churning out an equal number of torturers and terrorists to honest cops and soldiers. The place used to be run under General Shepard."

"Even more circumstantial evidence. But we're not sure that Shepard is really at the heart of the war. It's all going to come down to finding Makarov. But you know as well as I do that no military in the home country can do this."

"I know that," said Akashi, "A lot of people want Makarov or de Kere. It's all the more important that the boys are up to the job. A lot of people are relying on them to get some measure of justice out of the whole sorry affair."

McGuiness gave him another sympathetic pat.

"You're not the only one. Your wife will find justice. They are the right people for the job."

* * *

**Makarov is just too badass to discount. Especially that voice of his. **

**In any case, if I do get to the end of this fic I hope I can satisfy you readers. **

**SPOILERS **

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**But I won't kill everyone like in MW nor will everyone live like in MSN.**


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